Knock them over and the Parry 4 drops to Parry 2. Even better, if they attacked this round with a wild attack, then you knock them over, the Parry 2 drops to Parry 0.

This is War of the Dead. Shamblers have no fighting die type. Their base parry is 2, and when they attack (always a wild attack) their parry drops to 0.
Knock them prone and you've got a +2 to his Parry 0.

Of course, if the GM modifies the zombies then this stops being true. _________________"Got a problem? I've got the solution: Rocket Launcher."
"Not against a Servitor."
"... We're all gonna die."

This is very interesting commentary, which my group, as SW newbies is certainly going to benefit from. Thanks for sharing all those tips Jordan, I'll just have to add more zombies next time.

One thing I will add is how powerful the adventure cards are. It makes it really hard to kill someone. I'm thinking of limiting the party to 2-3 total per session, rather than give one to everyone.

I play them as written (and my group just hit 22XP), plus I use the expanded set with both sets of fan-made WotD cards in addition to the standard deck. One of the characters gets to draw two cards per session because early on, he drew Hell as his nemesis, so until Hell is dead, he draws two per session. That said, I haven't seen a card played in two sessions and usually, no more than 1-3 cards played. Of course, I don't seek to kill the characters. I'm more into deaths when dramatically appropriate.

The deaths of Mike, Zach, and Pastor Ray in a catastrophic wreck last week were pretty big, even though they were only NPC's. We haven't lost a player character yet, though one keeps isolating herself from the group and engaging in self-destructive, thrill-seeking behavior to reflect her lack of coping mechanisms, so that could change soon.

One thing I've observed about the Adventure Cards is that they can lead to a false (or at least unjustified) sense of security after a while, if players EXPECT a "get out of death free" card to be in someone's hand every session.

Somewhat recently, I ran a session where someone was Incapacitated, and the player's immediate reaction was, "Okay, someone play an Adventure Card on me!" in the tone of expectation and humor. Lo and behold, nobody had any of those "Missed Me!" or equivalent cards to evade the damage on hand. The sudden change in expression was rather marked.

(As it turned out, the PC did not die in this particular case. It is perhaps a sign of a very low-threat campaign when we've gotten this far and a player did not realize that "Incapacitation" doesn't necessarily mean instant death -- though, given the bleeding-out rules and Wound penalties on those Vigor checks, it's a very real possibility.)

In any case, Adventure Decks and scripted adventures don't play all that well together sometimes. If you're having trouble with the deck, you might want to go through and simply remove any of the cards that seem to be causing the most trouble._________________

I know Jcayer might now be thinking about throwing even more undead at us next session, but I just wanted to point out that but for some extremely lucky dice rolling, three of his players would have been dead last session.

Kris got mauled and took 15 over a toughness of 5. He exploded on a soak roll to avoid getting hit. It was the adventure card distration that allowed him to get away without taking parting attacks from the three walkers adjacent to jim.

Jeff got clobberized and had to explode twice to avoid damage as well. Otherwise he would have been dead, too.

And Bob did get killed, despite soaking 21 damage on a 5 toughness with multiple aces. It was only the adventure card that saved him.

So don't get too enthusiastic about killing us off just yet! It was a very close thing, and I think the players were extremely lucky to get off that ship alive.

It's been two weeks since this thread has seen any activity, but our next session is coming up Tuesday night. We have been busy playing through events occurring on the lifeboat. Bob has been kind enough to transcribe all of the messages into several, long threads. Email is far too easy to generate and resulted in over 200 messages. Once again, thanks to Bob.

For those who don't want the nitty gritty, Ms Hartten managed to turn most of the survivors against the players, using their previous actions against them...I have to say, this was probably some of my greatest E-GMing ever.

Eventually, their boat bumped into another and after taking out a couple mercenaries who were near zombified, Ms Hartten took control of the original boat, leaving a small group, of 22 on the other boat.

For the record, here is who is on the boat as of the start of our next session:

NPCs:
Ethel - old woman rescued from the Pinnacle
Lt Dan - wheelchair bound vet
Monica Treymore - 6 year, recovering from being very sick
Max Wolske - was a plumber and had been saving for 2 years to go on the cruise
Fr Kevin Conod - won a contest to go on the ship, widower
Hector Montoya - with very broken English, you gather he was a mechanic from the boat
Tameka Meese - an out of shape cartoonist
Marylou Chiarini - Political Analyst, very attractive
Darren Plasse - Nerd
I left the other 2 undefined, to be filled by other unfinished backup characters

I have left the fate of Aimee, my wife as vague. She dropped out after the second session, but I'm leaving the window open, just in case.
Without further adieu, here are Bob's transcriptions.

Joel boards the lifeboat carrying Monica Treymore. You hear a final gunshot outside, and Mike and Bob join everyone inside, both visibly shaken. The boat drops to the sea, Jeff and Adam jump from the Pinnacle and swim to the lifeboat. From your vantage point, you can see that the Pinnacle has become completely overrun with zombies. You can see a few other life boats that have launched, or are in the process.

Looking around, from a direction you could not see while on the deck, a Coast Guard vessel is approaching. You immediately realize, it's moving too fast. Grabbing a pair of binoculars from the supplies, you can see people milling aimlessly around the deck of that vessel. Moments later, it crashes, full speed, into the Pinnacle, putting the final nail in the maiden voyage of the vessel. Both vessels quickly sink. There is no sign of the black ship you saw moored to the side of the Pinnacle when you looked out before. They could have escaped or gone down with the larger ships.
Night is quickly approaching, but you're able to make out 3 other lifeboats. There are 40ish other people, including the baby, on your lifeboat. There is plenty of room to spread out as the ship was designed to pack in 370.
Monica is a sniveling mass of goo. Joel immediately Monica is a sniveling mass of goo. Joel immediately notices that she's very warm to the touch.
Ethel somehow made it and seems no worse for wear.

Ms Hartten is currently quiet as she holds the sleeping baby, but you fear her mouth will start dribbling verbal vomit any minute.
Stephen McDermont is there with you as well. He's pretty quiet at this point as he tries to digest everything he's seen in the past hours.
The man you ran into in the hall who was carrying his bitten daughter is holding his head in his hands off to the side. You note that he's alone.
Covering the entrance to the life boat when you entered was a clean cut guy, in decent shape. Based on the way he holds the gun and his appearance, you'd swear he was a soldier, except for the wheelchair.
Outside of these, there appear all walks of life and diversities. Families(some broken), single men and women, young and old.
Everyone is exhausted. There is some blood on some of them, but you have no way of knowing if it was a bite or a cut, someone else's blood or something else entirely.

Most of them are bordering on being in shock. Some are definitely there, unable to believe what they just saw and lived through.
The sun is setting and the winds and waves are beginning to pick up.

Mike:
We need to take an inventory of the lifeboat. Check everyone on board and get any info we can on them. We need to split up to get this completed. Also we need to signal the other boats and meet up with them getting them to follow the same steps. From that we need to see if the lifeboat has inboard navigation. Or maps. Figure out where we are and where we plan on going. I'm not sure how many noticed the creatures on the coast guard ship so for now we need to keep that between ourselves if possible.

Bob:
Bob makes his way to a bathroom and washes his hands, arms, and face. He changes his clothes from his backpack and tosses the bloody gore-splattered clothes into the trash. He noticed bits of gray brain matter on his favorite short sleeved shirt and shudders. His hands can't seem to stop shaking. He looks at himself in the mirror and he notices that there is now a patch of white hair that runs across his right temple. He's heard of people who had their hair change when exposed to significant shock, but never saw it happen before. He looks five years older.
He splashes water on his face, taking deep breaths and holds out his hand until the shaking subsides. It takes about three minutes. He puts on his knee braces, a pair of jeans, a long sleeved shirt and a hoody. He takes a deep breath and heads back out to his friends and family.

Adam:
I think the first thing we need to do is address the wounded. Kris, Mike and Bob, get your crap together. 3 minutes can turn a person into one of those meat-headed monsters. Make an announcement asking for help from anyone with medical training. Look them over for wounds before allowing them to help you inspect the other passengers. Anyone with bite wounds should be put near the door. Don't forcibly separate anyone from their families, but keep them segregated. And don't tell anyone what's going on.

While that is happening, Joel, I think you mentioned something about being familiar with boats. Can you figure out how to drive the thing? Also, do you know how to navigate and use the radio? If you can't do it alone, get some help from one of the other passengers. I want to contact the other lifeboats and try to organize us into a floatilla. We need to let them know about our suspicion that bites turn people into meat-heads, and that they need to take precautions. We'll definitely find land by heading west, but we need to figure out where we are so we can minimize our time on the life boat. We want to get to land quickly. Also, try to raise the coast guard.

Jeff, help me take a look and see what other supplies we have and let me know. Let's try to get some food and water distributed to these people and try to get them calm. Everyone is freaked out and we don't want them getting hysterical. We also need to get life vests on everyone. I put one one and you guys all need to have one too.

Jeff:
I hope everybody understands the significance of the Coast Guard ship. This means this plague didn’t just start on our ship, it has spread to the mainland and onto a military base! Are we closer to Bermuda or the mainland? Not knowing the navigation system, I think it would make more sense to go to the mainland since we can’t miss it if we sail west.
I put on a life-preserver and start to take an inventory of our supplies.

Joel:
I may have some experience with small boats but nothing of this size. We should also ask the group on board for people with experience in sea navigation. Work the radio? You're kidding, right? I'm still trying to work my smart phone. The most I can help with is navigation, and I can navigate both by the sky/stars, and I have an understanding of sea maps. Although I wonder if I may be more useful in helping Mike, Kris, and Bob as I have an expertise in religion and we may need some grief counseling and bedside manner to go with the first aid, to help people from going off the deep end. Plus I have first aid knowldege from my lifeguard days and can help bandage, wash wounds, etc.
Bermuda is a tiny speck of islands almost 600 miles from the mainland. I can't imagine our ship went that far out, and even if they did it would take a professional to navigate our way there. I suggest we head toward the mainland, and if we find an island, to stop there to gather our bearings. But make sure we don't run out of gas!
I put on a life jacket and offer my viewpoints and services to the others in our group.

Mike:
Before we move onto all of our grand ideas i think the group needs to have a quick meeting to make sure we are all on the same page. Bob, Kris and I begin to set up a quick triage of all passengers. Once set up I and to help reduce the loss of any very necessary supplies I move of to help Adam and Jeff with an inventory of supplies. Make sure all passengers have a life jacket and assign one of the passengers the role of gathering personal information about everyone on board so we know what skills we may have in the event they are needed. After that I will attempt o assist Joel with the navigation and radios while he figures out how to drive an steer this craft. If the wind and waves are picking up we may need to deal with a rough ride no matter what direction we head. We need to make sure as Adam said that we contact all the other boats and see if we can round them up. I would like to possibly suggest that depending how many are on the other boats we consolidate into as few boats as possible removing all supplies from the left over boats. Also if possible we need to see how much fuel this and the other boats have. Also I think we need to give out the food and water sparingly as we do not know how long we will be out here on the ocean. Also depending on the lifeboat so of them if not all should e equipped with a desalination unit to prevent the need of storing water. Most ocean going vessels it is a requirement. Not something we might be able to take with us but at least that may eliminate the need for water. Also during the inventory in the medical kit does it include sea sickness mess. We need to work quickly to find a few folks on our boat that we can use to help with all these tasks. Some will be in more of a condition to assist ten others. Also we need to find the blankets for those that are in shock or on there way. Still trying to make sense of what is happening it think it is save to say that heading to land may be just as bad as what we say on the ship based on what we say on the coast guard ship. Now I'm not saying the sky Is falling. It is possible that whatever is causing this is water Bourne as the CG cutter could have also been on the water and not dispatched from the land.

Bob:
Thanks Joel. We could definitely use your help with assisting the wounded.

Bob nods to Adam. Finding the infected people and separating them is first priority. Joel, Kris, Mike and I set up a triage station as Mike suggested. Joel - can you find the first aid kit for the lifeboat? Bob stands on a chair and tries to get the attention of the forty traumatized passengers. He raises his voice over the sounds of weeping and conversation.

"Hello. Listen up! If I could get your attention for a moment. We've all just been through something terrible, perhaps some new sort of terrorist attack. We want to rest, but if we want to make it back to our homes and the mainland, we will all need to work together and help each other out."
"A few of us here are trained in emergency medicine and we're setting up a triage station to help the wounded. If any of you have medical experience, you are more than welcome to join us. If you have been injured in the slightest - even something as small as a nick or a cut - if you could come here and line up at this set of chairs and we can help you. If anyone has any medicines in their possessions - aspirin, insulin, nitrogen tabs, please let us know so we can take inventory of what medicines we may have available on the ship for those who may need it. Are there any crew members here who made it off the vessel? Is there anyone here with law enforcement experience or military experience? We'd like to speak with you."

"Here's what we know: Last night on September 16th, Mr. Billy Haynes of Texas experienced some sort of infection. Something like rabies. Those of you dining in the banquet hall may remember he was the man who collapsed during Mr. Forthington's welcome speech. He became like a wild animal, biting anything that moved and feeling no pain. We know he killed the ship's medical staff. We believe that whatever he had was infectious, possibly transmitted by blood. Other people who were exposed to him became like him. You can't reason with them, you can't talk to them. That's what we saw on the deck of the ship before we got on here. We know that the time before infection seems to be anywhere from minutes to longer. We know that people who are infected are immune to pain. Only wounds to the head seem to do anything. Don’t let them bite you. Don’t go near them. The only way to stop them is to hit them in the head. We think this may have been the first phase of a terrorist attack using some sort of biological weapon.

We know that earlier today, our ship was boarded by people armed with automatic weapons. We saw their vessel boarded next to our cruise ship- they were not coast guard or any other government. We think that might have been the second phase of a terrorist attack.
Please, if you're injured or you see anyone with an injury, come forward to get treated. If you have any additional information that may be helpful, please let us know. And please put on your life jackets found underneath your chairs."

He is looking for signs of any one infected or feverish.

September 17th, 6:30pm.

Several people come forward looking for assistance with minimal injuries, bumps, bruises, sprains, and couple cuts, nothing serious. None of them have obvious bites, but they could easily be concealing them Most others keep their distance as they are wary of everyone.

While you are treating everyone, Bob remembers that when he was trying to restrain the previously bitten girl she was running a very high fever.
The man who is missing his daughter does not move from the corner.
Ms Hartten stays away from you, but you can tell she's getting ready to launch into another tirade concerning the end of the world, etc.

Ethel seems ok and her spunk is even making people feel a bit more comfortable. How can you not laugh about the 90 year old woman telling a story how she kept three creatures at bay with her walker?
The man in the wheelchair introduces himself as Dan Taylor. Formerly a lieutenant in the army, he was a highly rated marksman before an RPG took off one of his legs at the knee. He was on the cruise celebrating that he was still alive after everything.

Stephen McDermont and a few others seem far too interested in a conversation with Ms Hartten.

Monica is very quiet, obviously overwhelmed with what's happened. She is definitely running a fever.

There is one family of 4, 2 teen age boys. And another broken family, a mom and her preteen daughter. The daughter can't stop crying after watching her father attacked and eaten.
Several people have made makeshift beds from the extra life preservers and some blankets that were with the provisions.
Most of the people are armed with makeshift weapons. Clubs, axes, glass from broken mirrors, etc.
Skill sets vary from the people you've spoken with, but none of them are any better than you guys at most things. An older gentleman steps forward, he introduces himself as Ted Liska. He was on the cruise celebrating his retirement. He's been an avid boater for years and can help with the vessel.

The vessel is equipped with basic navigation instructions. How to start the engines and steer. There is a note that the vessel only has enough diesel to run for around 10 miles. It is not designed to get you to land, but to get you away from a sinking ship and to a rescue ship. There is ample battery,with a solar charger, to keep the lights on. There is a water purifier and basic foodstuffs to feed 370 for 3 days. Seeing that you have at most 40 people, you have ample food for sometime.
There's a basic first aid kit, a flare gun with 4 flares, a life jacket under each seat and two small restrooms(think airplane small).
There is a radio for communication. Currently, you get a great deal of static as a result of the solar storms, however, you do hear numerous broken reports of the dead rising, ravenous dead people attacking, pretty much everything you've experienced. No one responds to your attempts at communication.

While you sort through all this, the sun sets on the longest, worst day of your life....and you know tomorrow will not be any better. The sky is dark and the weather is definitely picking up.

There are no sea sickness pills...no medication outside of aspirin and anti-biotic cream in the med kit. There are plenty of barf bags

3 days of food for 370 people = 1,110 days of food for 1 person, 27.75 days of food for 40
Remember, there were over a dozen people on the boat BEFORE you got on. Then a bunch more made the dash to get on once you'd secured it.
Safety equipment
Life jackets - Yup, 370 of them
Fire extinguisher - 3, one at each end of the boat and one in the middle
First aid kit - as described above

Communications and navigation
Compass - built into navigation station
Distress beacons (EPIRBs) - built into navigation station
Red flare, rocket parachute flare, and/or smoke signal flare - I believe I already mentioned a flair gun and 4 flairs - you guys got to these before anyone else
Laser pointer for signaling aircraft (red is color of distress, but green color is higher power and will be seen farther), with lithium cells, in double waterproof plastic pouch (remember that pointers of high power are a theoretical hazard to eyes of low-flying pilots at night) - missing
Radar reflector (to help rescuers locate the raft) - Integrated onto outside of boat
Lantern and fuel, if fuel doubles as firestarter - there are 4, solar powered. They are bolted to the vessel but are designed to be removed with little effort
Radio transceiver, standard VHF marine and an optional amateur radio if a licensed radio amateur (see Ham Radio) or an AM/FM/Weather/Shortwave radio receiver - - built into navigation station, no radio.
GPS - - built into navigation station - see below
(lighter) - missing

Food and water
Fishing kit - It's there
Rainwater collection equipment - built into boat
Seawater desalination kit - built into boat
Water (typically 3 liters/person/day) - plenty to go around
Emergency high-calorie rations/food (not as important as water). Chocolate has a superior calorie/weight ratio - MMMmmm chocolate

Other tools and boating items
Hatchet - missing, but you can guess which passenger has it. It's his only weapon
Waterproof flashlight - missing
Heaving line - It's there, and it's big and heavy. You won't be carrying it around for long
Ladder - hooked on outside of boat
Sea anchor (also called a "sea drogue") - outside
Bailer - you don't see it, but there is probably a small compartment that allows access to the mechanicals
Bilge pump - you don't see it, but there is probably a small compartment that allows access to the mechanicals
Boat hook - outside
Bucket - full of puke
Any knife - missing
GPS. First off, out at sea, you have no cell signal, so that GPS will not work. Your phone does NOT talk directly to the satellites, it needs towers. The built in GPS was very erratic when you first boarded the vessel. Probably a result of the ionization in the atmosphere. It is now functioning and shows you much further out to sea than you would have guessed. The storm definitely pushed you the wrong way. As for north/south, you're somewhere around the Carolinas(why is it always the Carolinas?)
It's starting to drizzle.

The lifeboat can be viewed in google:
Schat-Harding's 370-person CRV55 lifeboat on test at sea

Kris:
since I am a wound care nurse I suggest I evaluate everyone one on the boat. I will take one female with me so all can get searched. I will explain this is for the protection and safety of all on the boat. If there are any non participants I can make a persuasion check or Bob can assist. Other than that I can organize the groups once checked. We will need an organized hierarchy. We need leaders from each group of individuals to advocate for us and help with crowd control. I can't remember if we have a total count of survivors with us, men women child? Since my major phobia is water I will not go to the top of the boat at all. There is no way to convince or talk me into it either. Think BA Barackas A team and flying! My thoughts on the dead floating would be that they would sink. They don't have control of their epiglottis and would swallow water, this would inevitably sink them. Also, they have the coordination to walk but swim might be a stretch. Swimming takes a lot of coordination and I would be surprised if these infected uncoordinated things can muster that coordination. If that doesn't kill them at the depths we are at now, the cold would surely slow their movement at the bottom of the ocean. Lastly if that doesn't kill them. It is proven that any ship that sinks and makes a substantial noise attracts sharks.

September 17th, 8:00pm

About half of the people are willing to be checked out. As you're announcing your intent, Ms Hartten takes the opportunity to open her mouth and start raving about the "wrath of god", the "End of Days", and how you and your friends(outside of Adam and Jeff who are just misled by you) are agents of the devil(I'm really missing RPing this in person). After looking to leave a helpless baby behind to be zombie food, and now trying to get everyone naked to you can personally be satisfied no one is infected. She says no way will she let you "perverts" examine her and that she knows she wasn't bitten and her word should be good enough for you. To make matters worse, Stephen McDermont and a few others, some with guns, seem to be giving into her religious fervor. The boat is quickly dividing into the reasonable, who side with you, those falling to the religious ramblings of Hartten, and some who are undecided or afraid to do much of anything.

As for zombie's sinking, now that it's dark, it is hard to see much at all, especially with the cloudy skies and rain. However, you haven't heard anything large bump into the boat.

Andrea gives Monica the once over. She has no bites, cuts, and barely a scratch. She's very scared and restraining her will certainly make things far worse in the eyes of the other group.

Kris:
At this point I take the group individually not to arouse any attention and suggest we lay low and conform to the crazy until we come up with a plan. Drawing as little attention to ourselves as possible. Then we can separate on dry land.

We could also start the rumor with whispers that we noticed this sort of behavior in the victims we saw changed. We could start be saying they would rant about such things. We could play her crazy against her as she escalates we could be the whispers that prove she is changing!

Bob:
In our group meeting - which will be far away from Mrs. Hartten and out of earshot- I share my findings about Monica.

"Guys, we have a bigger problem. The six year old Monica: she has a fever. I'm positive that when we inspected that other little girl back on the ship - that girl who was infected - she had a fever, too. I think we need to keep a watch on her. I fear that the Hartten group is going to try to prevent us from restraining her, and will put this entire ship in jeopardy. We can restrain her and put a blanket over her so it goes unnoticed."
"Kris, I think we need to speak out against her now. Not go under the radar. If she's left unchecked, she'll bring over the undecided people and I've seen enough bad horror movies to know that once they achieve critical mass, they look to throw the devils overboard. Hasn't anyone here seen or read The Mist?? We need to nip this in the bud."

Kris:
If the girl is infected we can use that to sway the others our way! How? We would have to come up with that.

Jeff:
I agree with Bob on this one. Fight fire with fire. She is in no position to lead the group and she needs to be put in her place.

Bob:
Bob is livid, furious with this hypocritical woman.

"HOW DARE YOU MA'AM!"

"HOW DARE YOU?"

"You found yourself alone, a stranger in the belly of a ship surrounded by murderous creatures. My family and my friends took you in when you had no place else to go. You were a stranger to us. We didn't know who you were, or whether you had honorable intentions. And still we did our best to keep you protected from harm..We made you part of our family. We were repeatedly attacked and assaulted by these creatures. We fought our way up from the belly of the ship.. and WE PROTECTED YOU. When we found other survivors we could help like the wonderful Mrs. Ethel WE PROTECTED HER FROM HARM. Mrs Ethel, I'm sure you would agree we did our best." (nods to her)

"When we made our way to deck of the ship and found those creatures ravaging strangers, bodies everywhere, we didn't for a second stop and leave you behind. WE RISKED OUR VERY LIVES FOR YOU MA'AM. I say again, HOW DARE YOU? When we made it to the top of the steps, who was it that ran out and grabbed the attention of the creatures, sacrificing himself so that you could make it into that lifeboat? My friends and family. These people here with you now. Who was it that picked up the corpse of one of those creatures and threw it at them, knocking them down and buying us time so we could all escape? My friends and family. We have people here. Good people like Stephen McDermott, who are sacrificing everything to help people like you. HOW DARE YOU accuse me of these terrible things when all we're trying to do is keep our own families safe, and those people who we were able to help. FOR SHAME, MS. Hartten."
"Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. Do you remember that? That's John 8:7. Judge not, lest ye be judged. That's Matt, I cant remember what verse. How dare you, Ms. Hartten. Do you remember the lessons of your own bible? Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. That's Leviticus."

[Obviously, she's a nutcase. This is an attempt to sway the other people in the room and keep her from poisoning the well. If you like, I can attempt a persuasion roll on the people in the room.. hopefully some people in her camp and in the undecided group will come to their senses and see things our way.]

"Mr. McDermott. Please, you know we did our best. But we're human. You fought side by side with us and you were there with us. I hope you aren't giving credence to all of this."

Joel:
I will point out to Bob that have a knowledge in religion that is a 6. I may be able to temper Ms Hartenn with patience and some of my knowledge (although your quotation of scripture at the spur of the moment is quite admirable). The trouble is by yelling at her, she is more likely to get more agitated and less reasonable. Perhaps I can sit with her for awhile, speak her language until she calms down, and try to inspire her to act more as a inspirational leader rather than a doomsday person.

I'll also point out privately to Bob try to cut her some slack and don't take everything she says personally - there is no way of knowing on anyone will react in the next few days as this calamity sinks in. She's speaking out of fear, not out of hostility.

Bob:
Maybe you're right, Joel. This woman just has a way of getting under my skin. She sounds awfully hostile to me. We think we're safe for thirty minutes and we get someone like this who I know would rather have us dead than try to help them. Why can't we just have peace with our forty survivors?

Could you maybe try your way with her? Join her group, if she'll let you and talk some sense into her? Thank you!

Mrs Harrten:
"How dare you sir! Not only did you want to leave the babe to die a horrible death, on several occasions you did your best to be rid of me and everyone else with you! I witnessed you(pointing at Monica) send her family to it's death because you didn't want to assist them. That man in the corner, you tried to take his daughter away from him. You tied up a small child instead of caring for it. You truly are the spawn of the devil!"
Addressing the people who are listening to her, "See what I mean, he tries to use words against me, yet his actions continue to show his evil and selfish nature! Now he wants all of us to strip down so he and his friends can, check if we're ok. Who would know better than yourselves if you're ok? Next he'll want to take your weapons so they can "inventory' them or some such nonsense. But in the end, they'll keep them, leaving you defenseless!"

Heads start nodding in agreement. You get the feeling things are on the brink of getting really ugly.
As an aside, it's nice to have a few minutes to think about what I get to say and how to twist your previous actions against you.
Under his breath, the veteran in the wheelchair, Dan, mumbles under his breath to you, "What a whack job. She's definitely got some PTSD."

Jeff:
Bob, I don’t think the veteran has taken a side yet but that sounds like he is leaning towards our side. I think everyone will listen to him, a veteran in a wheelchair.

Let’s ask him in front of everyone to try to defuse the situation and get everyone on the same side (hopefully our side).

Joel:
Presenting a firm front is fine - but we are going to get no where by bantering, threatening, or forcing divisions. Good leaders inspire others to follow them based on good behavior and wisdom (a la Captain Picard). My knowledge of history (which is a 6) knows that no matter how crazy or unreasonable someone is, in a desperate situation people will follow anyone who is willing to lead with their actions.

I will take the next action and stand in the middle of the crowd with my hands raised and call everyone to please listen:
Loudly "Everyone calm down and take a deep breath! Everyone stop for a moment and please listen! We appear to be caught up in a very difficult situation, but we all need to work together to save ourselves! But we can't work together if we begin to fight among ourselves! This is a new beginning for ourselves - let us unite together to figure out the best way to save ourselves! We are in a small boat, and realistically it may take a long time to get rescued - but the more we work together and trust one another, the better chance we have of saving everyone on our boat!"
Slowly and Loudly in my best Tommy Lee Jones tone "Now the first thing we all need to do is stabilize our situation! Please, let the paramedics on board do their job! And also, please, everyone calm down pause and let's cooperate and work together! These men here are the best equipped to help you!"

Slowly standing down, I look for reactions from the crowd. If the veteran is ready to speak, I gesture toward him.

Kris:
Directed to Mrs. Hartten I reiterate what Bob had said, but with a conviction of a dying confessing his world to his wife of 60yrs.

If what you say is true, then why did we rescue you, a woman of faith and crippled with age, then isn't it fair and just to say that we could have left you to die on that ship? Did we not save the child from shear doom by risking our lives to rescue it from un-seemingly insurmountable odds? Did we not say to that wonderful family that we were heading down into the depths of the ship to save our families? Did we not send them to a safe place were we had just been to meet the rest of the ships staff and patrons as the announcement instructed us to do? I say Mrs. Hartten and everyone, your words come from a place of good but do nothing but spread hatred and mistrust amongst us. How many of you can point fingers at anyone while you fled from the ship with screams of help coming from the doors next to you. I am not a religious man but doesn't the bible state "he who is without sin cast the first stone" ? I say we don't need hysterical rants and panic , we need a stay of the mind and body, we need to collect our thoughts and come together as a group to fight and defend against the real evil...

those monsters who have hurt so many and have taken so much. Stand with us and we will stand with you! The safety of the group and those who survived is paramount. We are tired, we are battered, let us comfort the scared, heal the wounded and feed the hungry. Then we will come up with a plan for what we do next. I look at Mrs. Hartten and say "let not anger or hatred take you over, there is room in your heart to see the truth" At that point I walk slowly with conviction and say let us forgive and I open my arms to her and look for a reciprocation"

As I do this I look into every persons eyes as to look for response.

Joel:
To help elicit a response, I will start to applaud.

Mike:
While all this is going on I am spending all my time and using notice to try to gauge all the passengers on board to see what kind of threat they may pose if this goes bad. I'm looking for those big and strong as well as those that have any kind of weapon. I want to see how many of them seem to be on Ms. Harttens side. I'm all for trying to reason with this crazy ass old lady but I will have no problem taking people out if this starts to go badly. I'm making note of there position on the boat who is between me and them and who looks like they can cause some damage. I slowly make my way to the soldier and ask him firmly if he understands what has happened and what might happen. If he does and is convincing and says he is on our side I will give him the extra handgun I have and one magazine. Believe that I am not about to let this crazy ass old women or anyone who we saved from that boat cause any issues at this point. We don't even know at this point where we are or how long we can survive. Seeing that at this point my only focus will be the safety of my friends. Anyone else on this boat is expendable in my opinion. I do not know what these people have seen or if they can even be reasoned with at this point. I am a critical incident stress leader. I have seen and experienced just how people handle very stressful situations and I have seen people snap.
I to am very stressed not wanting to make the situation worse I plan on not speaking. I believe that bob and Joel can handle that.

September 17th, 9:00pm.

Kris' efforts at reconciliation are not reciprocated. Ms Hartten(don't forget, Kathy Bates in appearance) returns to her rant about the end of the world, wrath of God, etc. Once again, she points at Mike and Bob who were the most vocal about leaving the baby behind. She points to Jeff and Adam who "dragged" the rest of the group to rescue the baby. Her group shuffles off to one side of the boat. A few more of the undecided go over to her, a few more seem more interested in what you are offering. There are some who are still either undecided or just don't want to get involved.
Based on your interactions with people, you're pretty certain at least 50 percent of the people are definitely bite free.

The veteran, Lieutenant Dan(come on guys, how did you miss this!), has his own gun and is firmly in your camp. Your side definitely has a few more people, however, the other side is more soft of mind, strong of body, while both sides seem equally armed.

As the exchange finally subsides, mother nature decides it's her turn. Thunder begins crackling, you can hear the wind screaming outside, and rain pouring down on the roof of the vessel. Lightening flashes, lighting up the interior with eerie shadows leaving you extremely on edge. I'd like everyone to make a vigor check. Anyone failing receives one level of Fatigue. If you get a critical failure, seasickness overwhelms you, two levels of fatigue.

Results:

The weather is really starting to make the boat rock and roll. Adam and Joel's stomach is churning a bit, but not enough to be sick.
Kris on the other hand is praying for the end of the world. The combination of guts, gore, and the violent seas have sent his stomach into overdrive. Pretty much bag and fetal position. Everyone else is managing okay.

Joel:
Do we as a group have a plan as to what to do of one of these passengers turns zombie on us? Obviously we have to destroy him/her but how? Just shooting someone in the head in front of dozens of people, some of whom are formulating their own "network" is bound to cause panic and outrage. Does someone in our group have a large knife that can be stuck in a zombie skull, leaving the shooting only as a last resort? We haven't been able to find a pair of handcuffs by any chance, or some other good binding mechanism, have we?

Jeff:
I think if someone does turn into a zombie, we hide behind Ms. Hartten and let her take care of it. Maybe we should ask her what we should do?

Kris:
I feel feverish!!!!! I may bite her anyway.

Bob:
Joel raises a good point. We should discuss our game plan if one is infected. Lock in the second bathroom? Open a window and push overboard?

Hahah, Jeff.

When I go to speak with the father with his face in his hands, I will offer my condolences and be very sensitive/sympathetic. I want to ask him gently what happened to his daughter. I will mention that Monica now seems feverish, and she was about his daughter's age. Is there anything he can tell me about her symptoms that could help this little girl? Anything at all that he noticed? We need to try to do a comparative diagnosis to see if what Monica has is just a garden-variety fever...

Kris:
We could lock them in the bathroom with Miss Hattman?

Adam:
I'm all for *not* firing a very loud gun in an enclose space and splattering meathead gore all over frightened and confused people...if we can help it. I wonder if we'll be able to use our axes to push it out the door and into the ocean.

Mike:
Guys we are all carrying ax's we can just smash their heads in with the ax?

Kris:
...and if we miss and happen to hit mrs. H it would be a shame. Man I rolled snake eyes.
Seriously we should take shifts sleeping and watching. We should have flashlights axes and guns at the ready. We should find a spot with an egress if we should need it. With my notice I am looking for people with signs of fever or unusual behavior(as well as throwing up)

Joel:
I think at this point we just need to get through the night and reevaluate tomorrow morning. Do what we can to avoid anarchy and a blood bath. And above all, take care of ourselves first (not because we are better than anyone ele but we trust our own group the most and it must stay intact)
I will say I'm surprised the other group has accumulated such a gathering when they have only spoken out in terror and panic while we have attempted calm reasoning and demonstrated live preserving abilities. Reason will win out in the end.

September 18th, 10am.2 Days since the cruise ship embarked.

As Bob approaches the man, he makes no movement. If not for the slight motion from breathing, you'd think he was a statue. Gently touching his shoulder to get his attention, a tear streaked face looks up at Bob. Bob instantly knows the man's heart is completely shattered. The light has gone out of his life. A second later, there is a flicker of recognition. He remembers seeing Bob in the hallway, he remembers Bob offering to tend to his daughter, and he remembers Bob tying his daughter up like some crazy animal. He remembers his daughter crying for her daddy to take her away from the mean man. He remembers how you told him he couldn't have his daughter back, and he remembers that he had to grab her and flee, for what he felt was his life and his daughter's.
He slowly stands up.

It's one of those actions that seems to occur in slow motion. It draws the attention of everyone on the boat. And he speaks, "The crazy god woman is right about one thing. This man and his friends are monsters. They tried to restrain my daughter and keep her from me. They should have died on the ship with the rest of the filth." He says nothing else and walks over to Ms Hartten. Immediately, a few individuals, and a man with a young boy walk over to join her camp.

Bob:
Calmly, sadly, and loudly:
"Your daughter was infected, sir. By tying her up we saved your life. She couldn't bite you. Where is she now? What happened to your daughter? Did she turn on you? Did she attack you mindlessly, forgetting you were her father?

"We warned you sir. We tried to help you. You came to us in the ship, with no idea what was happening. We told you about the monsters. We begged you not to go alone in the ship filled with infected people and to stay with us. You didn't listen. Your daughter had a fever. Can you tell us how long she had that fever? What other symptoms did she present with, sir? How much time passed before she changed? Did you untie her?
There's another little girl whose life is at stake sir. Another man's daughter. You can't being your daughter back, but you might be able to help her. Are you really going to refuse to help this little girl, sir? Has anyone in this ship seen anyone infected start with a fever and change? If this man won't help, can anyone else?"

September 18th, 10:05am.

Unfortunately, people have stopped listening, the damage has been done. Even Lt Dan is giving you guys the, "What were you thinking?" look. Ethel seems unaffected by the statement as she was there at the time, but so far she's been pretty quiet. Keeping mostly to herself.
In fact, at this point, most people seen to be giving you guys the cold shoulder. Your previous actions, have been used/turned against you and some of the picture has not turned out very well for you.
The storm rages for a little over a day. A lot of people experience seasickness and many are showing signs of complete exhaustion. It's obvious most haven't slept, or have slept very poorly. You know tempers will be short and fuses shorter.
It's early morning when the sun finally breaks through the clouds. Spirits rise a little, but people are still very wary.

Mike:
Wary or not we need to figure out how to meet up with the other boats and possibly search the area for any other people that might have gotten off that ship. We also need to get our bearings and start to head west towards land. Unless any of the god fearing idiots on board the boat with us would like to get out and wait for Noah and the Ark to swing by and pick them up. I will be happy to help them off. If there are no objections I say we make our way west once we do a quick search of the area. As for the rest of the people on the boat either pitch in and help us get safely to land or sit there but do not get in our way of attempting to get this boat safely to land. If there are no objections I say our group starts. Lets open the hatches and get in some fresh air it should help those that are still feeling sick and I think a little sunshine would help us all out.
Josh I grab the flare gun binoculars and the flares and open the hatch and take a look to see if I see any of the other ships or land for that fact. Is there a handheld compass in the kit if so I take it also to try and get our position. Great thing is the compass will always give me true north and I say we get back on the radios and try again now that the storm is gone.

Joel:
I am going to start the morning talking with Bob and Kris about starting to locate other key and valuable items on the boat and make sure we have possession of them before the other "faction" does the same. Mike already has the compass, we should have possession of other radios, batteries, fuel, tool boxes, potential weapons, binoculars, and medicines, particularly any poisonous ones. We should talk to Jeff and Aam about how to secure and guard these items. I don't like how our attempts at reasoning and bonding have gone and although I am not ready to give up, we need to be ready for the worst.

September 18th, 11:00am.

Most of what is on the boat is built in.
This is a small control area in the center of the vessel. There is a central viewing area where the controls are. Additionally, this is where things like the compass and radio are built in. There was a chest there that contained 4 sets of binoculars. There are no tools or batteries and there is no access to the fuel as it is much like your car. Accessible from the outside. The ship really isn't designed to be scavenged. Everything is built in to survive rough seas and have nothing move.

Mike, as far as you can tell, the storm blew you much further out to sea. From your vantage point, all you can see is ocean, in every direction. There is a small dot off to the west that, through the binoculars, looks like another life boat. You estimate it will take a couple hours to get to it using the engines and burning your precious fuel. Don't forget, the instructions with the boat stress you have limited fuel.

Stephen McDermont and a couple other of Ms Hartten's people are doing similar things. It's obvious some of them don't believe her spiel, however, your previous actions with the baby and little girl have given them a very negative view of you.

Joel:
Let's make sure we have control of the boat operation area in the event someone else want to control this ship

Bob:
Good points, Mike and Joel - I agree.

I would say let's spend the fuel and get to the second lifeboat. We need to go west anyways, so we're killing two birds with one stone.

Adam and Jeff and Joel - Mrs. Hartten thinks you folks are still her knights in shining armor, just misled. By the rest of os satanspawn. Do you think you could be our ambassadors to her group? Perhaps approach Steve McDermott first and propose the idea of going to the second lifeboat. The way things are going, anything we do is perceived in the worst possible light. So if we just start driving the boat west without asking, we'll have a shoot out on our hands in no time.

For the record, I can't believe that after healing people on the lifeboat of injuries, fighting off zombies and risking our lives to allow 20 more people to get onto this ship when and saving the people in our original group and brining them here to safety, that those actions don't give us any goodwill at all. It really makes no sense to me. The first thing at least 20 I these people saw when boarding this lifeboat was our people fending off the dead, shouting and encouraging them to get on board.. Then the next thing they experienced was the same group mending wounds and stopping bleeding. Really seems weird.

So to Joel's point, if we keep a small group on watch - the same group watching Monica, they can guard our items as well. Let's increase the number on watch from two to five?

Other questions:
(1) How is Monica doing after a day? Better? Has the fever broken?
(2) Any radio chatter now?
(3) Does GPS work on our mobile phones? It should. It's satellite based. This should tell us where we are and exactly how far away from shore.
Also - if we can slide up to lifeboat #2, then lash it to ours, then have boat #1 drive west till it runs out of fuel, then have boat 2 go west. This may double our distance. These boats were designed to move 340 people- so they are really light right now. It shouldn't slow them down muh to be tied together.

Adam:
I think the time for words is past. The only thing that can win these people over now is actions. We have done some good acts, yes. But some if what we have done has been despicable. I understand why we did it, but those facts in the hands of a zealot like Ms. Hartten are enough to convince these frightened broken people. Nothing we can say now will convince them of our intentions. All reason is gone. All we can do now is show them.

Until then, head west keep trying to hail that other boat as we make for a rendezvous. But don't just come alongside it until we hear from them. It could be full of meatheads for all we know.

September 18th, 3:00pm.

No useful radio comments in three hours, the trip to the other boat is uneventful. Pulling along side, you can't see any motion inside, but it's hard with the sun and glare from the sea.
The boat looks clean, of course, 24 hours in a hurricane would wash off any blood/gore/etc.

You may recall that Ted Liska, a retiree, has significant boating knowledge and offered to pilot the boat when you first boarded. He doesn't appear to have chosen a side yet, appearing leery of both groups. He does agree with your assessment that the other boat should be investigated. He informs EVERYONE with an announcement and sets the boat in motion. Since the seas are fairly calm, he expects to be there in a couple hours.
The built in GPS was very erratic when you first boarded the vessel. Probably a result of the ionization in the atmosphere. It is now functioning and shows you much further out to sea than you would have guessed. The storm definitely pushed you the wrong way. As for north/south, you're somewhere around the Carolinas(why is it always the Carolinas?)

Nothing on the radio but static.

Monica's fever is worse. You're guessing she's up around 102 or 3 at this point. She's a puddle of goo. Every once in a while you can see Hartten or someone from her group looking/pointing/discussing her. They're scared.

Joel:
Maybe we should offer Monica to Hartten's group to offer a cure or remedy. Or ask for a suggestion, seeing they have the answers we don't.

Adam:
Circle the other lifeboat and try to get a better angle. We can get closer to it if we have to, but only if our doors and windows are closed.

Bob:
Good call, Adam.
I feel like Monica might still have a garden variety fever, but we should still take precautions. I'd like to restrain her now. My concern is that if we board the other lifeboat and problems arise, that would be the worst possible time for Monica to turn and cause problems in our boat. And the way our luck is going, you jnow that's just what will happen. But we can't just tie her up because the God patrol will then cause problems.
Adam or Jeff- Would either of you be willing to approach McDermott or Hartten and explain why we'd like to restrain Monica in cloth bandages so that she can't hurt anyone if she turns? It would be good to get their buy in, and we can see they are concerned.
Let's agree to restrain her and put a watch on her before boarding.

Adam:
I agree that if you try to restrain her while her heart is still beating, I will throw you off this boat.

Bob:
You do understand that when I say restrain, I am referring to softly bound cloth as you see when people tie scarves around their wrists in a bedroom. And they only tighten if the person in them struggles hard to get out of them.
And if you try to keep me from protecting my family, you're going to be the one that's getting wet.

Adam:
Look around Bob. Do you see all those people over there giving us nasty glares? Those glares are because of this kind of thinking. You're talking about tying up a little girl, how do you think that looks in their eyes? I want to protect my family and yours, but if you continue acting like this you're going to have a lot more problems with the living than with the meatheads. And there's only so much I can do about that.
You need to decide if tying up a living, breathing little girl who is sick and frightened, thereby confirming with everyone on board who already hates you that you are "evil" is more risky than the *potential* that she may turn into one of these meatheads. You must choose, but choose wisely. The consequences affect not just you, but your family as well. And whatever you set into motion the rest of us may not be able to stop.

Kris:
I will sit with Monica! Since I have the most nursing experience I offer my help, without the need to restrain. I will however put on any long sleeve and glove protection I need. This works for everyone since I won't leave the bottom of the boat anyway. With this I grab compresses and place them under her arm pits and see if she will drink.
I concur! I can restrain. Little girl if I need to. This will show the non believers that we do care and it will go along way. As well as potentially save her life. Think of it this way, if she doesn't become infected she may hold a cure!!!!

September 18th, 3:35pm.

As Kris sits down next to Monica, he can tell, deep down inside,she needs to be held. His parental instincts take over and she cuddles up with him. You would swear she's almost purring and she finally seems to relax a little.

Circling around the boat, you still aren't able to get a good idea of what's going on inside.

Stephen McDermont comes over to you. He comments that even with the tension on the boat, you should work together to see what's inside the other vessel. At a minimum, there are supplies that are needed over there. He looks at Mike and says, if you go, I'll go.

Bob:
On the evening of the thunderstorm, no one is able to sleep. The lifeboat is rocking, dipping N rising, punctuated with loud blasts that light up the boat. It is a truly miserable experience.

During the hours that pass, our small group speaks in low voices, the conversation topic always coming back around to the unbelievable disaster we just experienced. Bob tells you this story:

"When I was attending classes to become an EMT, our instructor brought in a video tape for us to watch. It gave me a sense of how old this thing was- it wasn't a DVD or on his laptop. You needed a VCR to play it.
This was probably in the first four weeks of class. We hadn't gotten into the more complicated stuff yet. We were still into Anatomy, vitals, and the topic of scene safety. See, one thing our instructor drilled home with us is the absolute overriding importance of being safe when responding to 911 calls.

Often times, your crew will arrive on scene well before police. Above all things, your primary duty was to ensure the scene was safe. If you failed to do so, then you rendered completely useless your ability to help others, and would become another patient in need of help. You would be adding to the problem.

When the instructor hit play on the video, we saw a grainy black and white image display. There was no sound. Our instructor explained that this was not the original video, but was something the FBI used for its training, and down the line the original had been copied several times and passed along to EMT instructors who were friends. With these analog systems, the copies degraded and were never as good as the prior version. This one looked like it may have been a third or fourth generation copy.
It was in black and white. No sound. And It seemed to be some sort of closed-circuit television security footage. People were walking around the food court of a Mall. Our instructor told us we were looking at security video taken at a large Mall in the midwest in the 1990s. You could tell from the clothing and hairstyles that it was definitely out of an I Love the 90s video. Some students made a few jokes and everyone in the class chuckled.

A man in a baseball cap walked to a trash can and dropped off some trash, then walked away. A few minutes later, an elderly man finished his meal and took his tray to the same trash can. Suddenly, he fell over, not moving. His tray clattered to the ground. Perhaps the victim I a heart attack or a stroke. A couple was watching from a bench, and the male got up and walked over to the man. He kneels over to see if he's okay, then slumps over, motionless.

His wife or girlfriend is alarmed, gets up and runs over, and collapses before she gets within a foot of him.

A security officer runs over, and falls to the ground, unmoving. Followed by three more people. That's now seven bodies around the trash can.
Someone has finally widened up and called for help. We watch the video as police arrive on scene. Two officers approach and are dropped. Then the EMTs arrive, race over to the cops and their lives snuffed out.

It took eleven deaths to realize that the mall had been the subject of a domestic attack. The first fellow who tossed his trah actually disposed of a cyanide "bomb", which released massive amounts of odorless toxic fumes localized to the trash bin at a busy mall. People didn't know what was going on and in their earnest best intentions to help others, lost their own lives instead.

It was a chilling video that the FBI and our instructors used to remind us of a very important lesson: you can't help others if you aren't safe yourself first. Otherwise you become part of the problem.

Lightning cracks, and the boat sways, and Bob gets quiet again..

Mike:
Steve, I'm in. As you know i completely agree that there could be some very needed supplies for our group. I think we need a plan. We are very familiar with how these boats operate with the hatches. If there are any nasty things i think we get them to come to us at the hatch and there we take them out. One on top of the roof and one in the door to lure them out. We also need to be prepared if there are none in there and we have a bunch of freaked out passengers from the ship. I say we keep the guns holstered and go with the axes or pike poles. They are a good reach weapon and can pierce the head. Also we need one or two others but i do not want to put to many on the other boat until we have the situation assessed. What are your thoughts.

Adam:
I'll go. Jeff, what about you? I'd prefer Bob not to go. I don't want to risk 2/3 of our medical staff.

Jeff:
I’m in and I make the reach weapon even reachier.

Mike:
I would think that we would want to take one extra and i like jeff with his long gorilla arms, Adam i really need to keep you on the other boat to keep Bob from the edge of the cliff if Ms. Hartten starts up again if we find some of the creatures and we start killing them she may start in again. Plus we sill need some strong/competent and mental capable folks on our boat to move over supplies and survivors.

Bob:
Perhaps we can first lash our ship to theirs before going in, creating a steady platform? This will minimize the chance of anyone falling off or the two ships drifting apart. Also sets us up nicely if we want to use both vessels to drive us westward.
Whoever is going in: Jeff made a good point. If there are infected in there, you can open the hatch and let them walk to you like lemmings.. Then push them overboard. No need to waste ammunition or take any unnecessary risks. If you're patient, you can clear the place out without even firing a single shot.
Please be careful!

Mike:
I'm all for lashing the ship together if needed but i think we wait a few minutes until we get on board the other ship and check it out. What if there are 300 of these creatures and the rush the door and we get over run and now the other ship is attached and we loose everyone potentially. I think we give it a couple minutes and if all is bad we jump for the water and you guys pick up up. That's what i think but open to the group.

Bob:
Sounds reasonable. You're taking the risk on this one, so your call. Just make sure you and Stephen wear life jackets, then!

Joel:
Can you guys see through the windows of the other boat with the binoculars now that we are close up?

Adam:
Let's find out what's inside that other boat before we lash ourselves to it. (This suggestion did come from Bob after all. And we know how good he is with ropes. )
Let's stick with Mike, Jeff and Stepehen. Then if something goes wrong we won't get accused of putting someone from the other group in harm's way.

Joel:
Adam and I can be on stand by to join them if any sign of danger arises.

September 18th, 3:40pm.

I honestly don't see how you could lash the boats together in any meaningful manner other than keeping them tied together and even then, the sea is likely to rip them apart. These are multi ton vehicles so while you could drive your boat into the other one, that one would just push away. After watching several seasons of the Deadliest Catch, when transferring people between boats, they never get close to each other.
In looking at the pictures of the boat online, they appear to have dark, tinted windows. I will give it to you to that you see some motion inside, but can't determine what it is....alive or dead.

You can get close enough to leap from one "roof" to another. Since the seas are calm, I won't require an agility check. Once over there, Mike, Jeff, and Steve will be able to look in the top windows.

Adam:
*If* we decide to tie the boats together we can take the heaving line and tie it to the moorings on each boat, circled in red. (see image of lifeboat)
That should be good enough to hold on a calm day. It's not ideal, but it should work to transfer things and people from one boat to another for a few minutes. We're not in the Bearing Sea.

Bob:
Agreed. That line is strong enough and intended to keep a boat tied to dock or other boat; it should do the job. I was originally thinking you could moor it to one side, then open a hatch on the opposite side. That should make it impossible for any infected to climb out and walk across the roof - they just don't seem to be coordinated enough to climb like that. But we can check it out first and then lash.

Mike:
Guys i have to put my two cents in here. I do not think it would be difficult to lash the boats together in the current calm seas we are experiencing. However what happens in the middle of the night if the situation changes and we now have a major problem. Also while the seas are calm we can get the boats close enough to get on and off the other ship to get the people and supplies off. I think we would actually not get a benefit of the other ship. I still think that even if we get all the fuel off this boat assuming there is still fuel we still do not have enough to get back to land. I think we need to get as close as we can going west or south and how the gulf stream will take us to land. These boats were not designed to hold and store enough fuel for hundreds of miles of travel. We need to get the radios and other stuff working if possible and try to contact help. For the record i am against keeping the boats tied together for any time longer than to get our supplies and survivors off of it.

September 18th, 3:45pm.

Your mobile phone GPS shows that you are two or three hundred miles of the coast of the Carolinas.

You have a single line holding them together. Easily cut or detached. But you know you could lash them together so that even Lt Dan could wheel his wheelchair between them.

Mike, Jeff, and Stephen saunter across the deck to the other boat. They look in the top windows and are able to see a couple of people sitting on the funky benches. They're swaying with the gentle rocking of the boat. Since you've never seen a zombie sit, you can assume they are alive, or dead dead. Tapping on the glass, they slowly look up, like they're afraid too, and nod their heads back and forth slowly in a no motion.

Mike:
Slowly we spread out across the top of the boat trying to get a better view of the interior by using all the rooftop windows. based on the indications of the survivors they may be in a dangerous situation and we do not want to get ourselves or them hurt or killed. What additional information can we gain by looking in the other windows?

Jeff:
I smear blood all over myself, rip my clothes and then stumble into the other boat moaning loudly.

Ok, I don’t do that. I get Mike and Stephen’s attention and give them a look so we are all on the same page. I try to convey to them that I will knock on a window closest to our boat while they move to another window on the other side of the boat.
I am obviously not standing directly in the doorway/window. I am off to the side, I am holding my gun in my pocket with my hand and holding my axe in a nonthreatening way in the other.

September 18th, 3:49pm.

You came at the other boat fairly head on. So they could not see you from the side windows. Jeff reaches over and knocks on the side window. You can hear some commotion inside and some yelling, but it's relatively unintelligible. The shell of the vessel is designed to outlast storms, so it's pretty dense and thick.

Mike, you think you see a man dressed all in black move closer to the doors on that side. He was only in your vision for a split second, so you couldn't tell if he was armed or not.
I had actually assumed you reached down from the roof and knocked.
So there is some commotion, but you can't see much more than before. If someone is hiding inside, they know where the blind spots from outside are.
The windows in the top are sealed from within. The side doors are operational from the outside.

Mike:
I would assume that based on my knowledge of the boat i know how the hatches open. Can i get my hatch open on top of the boat once i have jeff knock or bang on his side drawing what i believe to be the bad guys from the cruse ship. MY plan is to drop in behind them with my gun and force them to drop there weapons if they have them. Once i drop in have Steve ready to do the same thing. That is the plan we are going to execute. So i guess you need to tell me if i get killed now?

Bob:
We're on board, watching for trouble, trying to raise anyone on the radio and offering backup from the archway of the hatch. Does mike signal to us that he sees people on board?
If so, then I remind them it could be one of those terrorists with automatic weapons, and to be careful.

Kris:
Announce yourself as survivors so you don't get shot.

Jeff:
I go to the side door opposite from where mike is, look through it, and if I don't see anything special I knock on the door.

September 18th, 3:53pm.

Looking at the pictures, the doors are solid and appear to slide up. Once you knock, you hear someone inside ask, "Who's there? What do you want?"

The door rolls open. However, being on the roof, you can't see much.

Jeff:
I say we are other survivors from the boat. Do you guys need assistance?

Kris:
I want to make a notice check for Monica, I am looking for changes in breathing pulse respiratory noise and or color. 1 and a 4

September 18th, 3:54pm.

Monica hasn't gotten worse, but she hasn't gotten better. She's still running a very high fever and pretty unresponsive. She does seem more comfortable since you sat with her and let her snuggle up.
Jeff hers a voice within the other lifeboat:

"Get in here, quick, they're down."

Kris:
I look at Bob's wife Andrea and have her look after Monica. I grab my axe and pistol and move quickly but aware of my surroundings make my way to jeff!

Jeff:
I rush in looking quickly to my blind spots. I have my axe in my right hand and my gun in my left in my jacket pocket.

Joel:
I'm standing by in our boat and will work on crowd control if necessary.

September 18th, 3:55pm.

A second later, Mike drops in from the other side.
There are eight people and 2 men all in black with machine guns. The one Mike saw move toward the door collapses as you come in. He's a mess, you can see at least one bite mark on him and almost feel the fever burning him up.

The other man in black is semi comatose sitting in one of the corners. All of the passengers appear unarmed.

At the same time, back on your boat, Ms Hartten takes the opportunity to act. All you hear is, "Now!" All of her group, those armed with guns and with axes/improvised weapons advance on you. "The Lord has delivered a way for our paths to split! For the sinners to go their own way and those of us who are pure of heart to live!" With that, she ushers the rest of your group toward the other boat in attempt to push you off the boat.

They outnumber you at least 2 to 1 and none of the undecided have moved.

Jeff:
I raise my axe and chop at the guy in black closest to me.

September 18th, 3:56pm.

He can barely move. You bury the ax deep in his skull.....congratulations, you've just murdered a living person. Granted he was pretty much dead already, but you killed him.

You guys are by the door and Hartten's group is ushering you toward the other boat.

Ms Hartten is behind several other people so you do not have a clear shot.
Adam, Bob, and Kris are all in the doorways of the OLD boat(the boat with Ms Hartten on it), waiting to rush to the new boat should their help be needed. Ms Hartten's group decides to be rid of you at this point, and they tell you all to get to the NEW boat. To take the sick kid and gimp with you.
They out number you 2 to 1 and are at least as well armed.
Jeff and Mike easily dispatch the remaining man in black.

Jeff:
I tell mike to help me finish off the other guy and then search the bodies to grab anything useful from them.
She doesn’t want the sick kid? Seriously? She thinks the kid is better off with us than her?
Once I find out what is happening, I ask if there are any crazy religious fanatics on this new boat that would rather go to the other boat.

Kris:
Lets get to the other boat and send the eight others if they look ill and sick over to the other boat. We are all crazy and they just saw mike kill the man in black they shouldn't need much encouragement. Also I second the opinion that Mrs. Would not abandon the sick girl and leave her with us. That goes against all she stands for. I think she wouldn't want us to take the wheelchair unless he wanted to join us. I say even if mrs. H says she will not take her because the spawn of satan has taken her over because of us we leave her there any way. They can't make us take her against our will.

Adam:
I don't move. I yell:
You want us to leave. Are you kidding me?!? God did not provide you with another boat. We did! God did not put this boat in the water. We did! God did not clear the deck of the cruise ship of meat-heads to allow half of you to even get on this boat in the first place. We did!
And who are the sinners on this boat? Are the sinners the people who are taking responsibility for the care of the sick girl? Or are the sinners the ones who are trying to dump that problem off on someone else? Are the sinners the people who are trying to get everyone to land safely? Or are the sinners the people who lay in wait to ambush their fellow man?

Now I am not trying to save the sinners, and I am not trying to save the saints. We're all people. And I'm trying to save as many of us as we can. Do you want to be saved? Do you want to be protected? If you do then take a seat. The best salvation and protection we have right now is in unity, not division. So let's unite and continue onward together.

September 18th, 4:03pm.

No one moves. They're all scared. Ms Hartten has been demonizing you guys since you walked on the boat. She keeps telling then you're reason for taking care of the girl is to try to look sympathetic to her gang and earn back their trust, but it's all a ruse. Everyone there is afraid of Monica turning into a zombie, so leaving her with them, they will likely kill her.
Lt. Dan turns to you guys and says, "Lets leave the nut jobs behind. Can someone help me across to the other boat?", and then wheels his chair toward the door. Ethel walks over and starts pushing his chair. Looking back, she says, You guys coming?

Meanwhile, the few passengers on the other boat are hailing Jeff and Mike as heroes. The 2 men in black yield up 2 M16s(10 rounds each), 2 glocks(one 15 round clip each), a grenade, a couple nice survival knives, a single pair of night vision goggles, some smokes, and a lighter.
Seriously, I'm giving you guys the chance to ditch the religious nut, would you really be debating this, or running for the door at breakneck speed?

Jeff:
I say we leave the crazies behind. I try to help Lt. Dan as best I can.

September 18th, 4:10pm.

Lt. Dan is surprisingly strong and nimble. You get him across the distance easily enough. And Ethel follows, with a little help from Jeff's steady hands, but not before turning to Hartten and flipping her the middle finger.
Monica will have to be carried. Any takers or are you leaving her?

Mike:
I round up all the gear from the 2 guys in black and using the other door drag these two guys and push them out the door and into the water. closing the door behind them. I pocket the night vision goggles and a survival knife. I move the rest of the gear to the center console and start to give it out as are folks come on board.

I yell over to Adam and Kris to help Andrea with Monica as we are not leaving her behind with these lunatics to kill her for no reason other then there ignorance.

September 18th, 4:12pm.

As you round up the gear, one of the survivors on the new boat says that one of the glocks is his, that he got it off a dead guard on the boat and that he would like it back? The fact the man in black had it stuffed in his pants and not holstered does add some credibility to his story.

Stephen McDermont seems torn as to where to go.

Stephen McDermont was the only one on that side who helped you. He was also the only one who offered to go to the new(soon to be your) boat to check it out. He's not sure which way to go and as a police officer, certainly has some useful skills. If you want to tell him to suck and egg, be my guest.

Kris:
I say we then take the girl. I cannot carry her as the jump alone is an almost insurmountable task for me due to my massive phobia of sharks an open water. I think we should unleash the boat tell Hartten to suck an egg and shut out hatch.

Bob:
I will carry Monica over - I wouldn't wish anyone to be trapped on this ship with Hartten and her friends. But I will be extremely cautious crossing - I will wrap her in blankets like a burrito and carefully cross over. This will ensure I don't drop her.
I will also wrap the first aid kit with Monica's blanket as I wrap her, in hopes of bringing that with us.
I'll make surely wide Andrea crosses first before I follow.
I won't waste any more of my breath on these people.

Jeff:
I tell Stephen McDermott that we could really use his help and that I think he could use our help as well.

Mike:
The guy who wants the gun is a person from the new boat and although he may be credible i am not sure i want to give it to him just yet. What if he was one of the guys dressed in black now acting like one of the victims?

I tell him me and my group would be happy to give you back this gun once we determine who's side you are on in all of this. The people from the other boat who's lives we all saved felt like we were the cause of this whole thing and so you will have to forgive me for not trusting too many people right now. We could always use another good person on in our group as we have no idea what we might find if we actually get to land again. I just need some time to make sure you are not going to potentially hurt anyone from my group first. Please understand that we in no way plan on hurting you or anyone else on this boat. We have a group with a very diverse background with lots of good skills and could always use more. So lets start by you and i having a little chat about what you know and what has happened since you let the ship. I take him off to a quiet corner of the ship to talk. I let the other start to work with the other new people getting their stories and backgrounds.

Also just for the record i would love to have a minute with Steve to talk to him about why we would like to have him stay with us. I would tell him that after what we have been through at this point he may as well be part of our group and family. After all he was in the fight with us to get off that ship and we have stood beside each other the last few days to keep us safe. I personally would love for him to stay with us but i would never try to force my view on anyone. So hopefully it will not be a difficult decision of where you want to take your chances with those you know will fight right along side you and for you or on the other boat with those who are clearly in denial of what we have seen and been through.

Adam:
I walk off the old boat disgusted when I see that my words has as much effect as they would on a wall.

With all of you aboard, Stephen decides to go. He's a god fearing man and even if he doesn't believe in everything Ms Hartten says, in his heart, he feels you guys don't have the same values he has. He wishes you well and returns to the other boat, cutting the line keeping you guys tied together.

Lt Dan, the wheelchair bound veteran
Ethel, the old lady with the walker and is amazingly spunky
Monica, the very sick 6 year old

The 8 people on the boat introduce themselves:

Max Wolske - is the man who asked for the gun back, he was a plumber and had been saving for 2 years to go on the cruise

Fr Kevin Conod - won a contest to go on the ship, widower

Hector Montoya - with very broken English, you gather he was a mechanic from the boat

Tameka Meese - an out of shape cartoonist

Marylou Chiarini - Political Analyst, very attractive

Darren Plasse - This is Mike's almost complete backup character, NERD, feel free to change his name Mike

I will leave the other 2 undefined, to be filled by other unfinished backup characters

Max tells the tale how this group had reported to the auditorium and been instructed by Kirkman to head up to the deck and to a lifeboat. They arrived in time to see your boat go down and after the carnage you left, managed to get another boat ready for the water. As they were preparing to launch, the two men in black came up on deck, mowed down the zombies that were close to the boat, and jumped on board. With the immediate threat gone, we tried to stay longer, but they would hear nothing of it. I wasn't going to try to fight two well armed men with my pistol, so when they took it, I didn't put up a fight. They then stuck us in the middle of the boat where they could keep an eye on us, and proceeded to try to radio for help.

With no response, they sat down and spent hours trying to decide what to do with us. At this point, we were in fear for our lives. Not long after, they started to get sick. It was easy to tell they were burning up and just not well in general. Things got worse as they stopped thinking clearly. It's been 30+ hours of hell for us. We've barely slept and really thought we were all going to die.

When you knocked, they tried to respond, but the one was pretty much unconscious and close the death. The other one moved to the door, but that took everything he had. When you opened it, he could barely respond. Thank you and good riddance to them.

Mike:
After my conversation with max i think we need to let everyone get as much sleep as possible. I propose 2 hour watch for our group letting the new group sleep as much as they can. Lets get a full inventory of equipment and supplies and get ready for night fall. Do we have anyone on the boat that can drive it west. Does it even run? any Fuel left? seeing as we have tons of room on the boat let everyone spread-out on the floors using the extra life jackets as a mattress and get some much needed rest. I spend whatever daylight is left watching the other boat go away hopefully far way and never to run into them again.

Lets check the electronics, what is working? Once night comes i will take the first 2 hour watch. In the morning i think we need to fill in our new group about our situation and give them all the details we know. If that has not driven them to jump of the boat i pull Max to the side and say are you in and with us on this. I will use notice to see if i think he is lying Josh, let me know if you want me to roll? IF i think he is in i hand him back the pistol with the mag in it. Josh i want ot check the gun to make sure it is working properly and how many rounds it has before i give it back to him. Also i ask him if he know how to use it?
Any other thoughts??

Sidenote
FYI - here's an interesting narrative of a man who survived his ship sinking in a lifeboat, was rescued, and then the rescuer's ship was sunk and he found himself in another lifeboat.

A little cautious at first, the survivors on that boat quickly drift off. Doing an inventory, it's the same as the other boat. A negligible amount of fuel has been used. All the equipment appears to be in working order.
You liked Max during his talk, he seems fairly level headed and knows where is bread is buttered. He comes off as an honest, hard working man.

The magazine was half full.

September 25th.Three days since the breakout.

A week passes. Monica seems to finally start to recover and has definitely bonded to Kris, her nurse.

You get a bit more chummy with the other occupants, trying to keep each other's spirits up.

Lt Dan admits to being a sniper instructor in the military and keeps you enthralled with stories of his exploits in the middle east.
You quickly learn the Ethel has a very sharp tongue, and dirty mind. Her jokes often border on obscene.

Max the plumber turns out to be fairly handy and helps McGyver a few things to help keep life in a small box more palatable. His tell it like it is attitude is almost comforting in a world turned upside down.

Tameka, the cartoonist, had a falling out with her girlfriend on the ship and is feeling terribly guilty about not having any closure.

Marylou, the political analyst spends a great deal of time crying and looking sad. She finally admits she was on her honeymoon and her husband sacrificed himself so she could get to safety on the boat. She's still learning to cope with that.

Father Kevin is Adam's backup.
Hector is Jeff's.
Darren is Mike's.

Guys, feel free to add a line or two about them. There are still two ghost NPCs waiting to be claimed should one of you not make it out of a situation. Feel free to add any interesting tidbits about your NPCs if you want.

Hector:
Hector is not forthcoming with information at all.
Hector is very private. He doesn’t seem to warm up to anyone. You notice he is much more edgy than when you first met him and that he is sweating and not feeling well in general.
Maybe he caught what Monica has/had?
Good thing Bob speak fluent Spanish. I hope he lives. :)

Friar Kevin:
After hearing stories about Ms. Hartten, Fr. Kevin tells you that he thinks that she sees God as a tool to get things done. He believes that God does not exist to do things to us or for us, but to guide us. He thinks that Ms. Hartten embraces the idea of God, but it sounds like she hasn't truly let him into her life.

He also speaks with everyone on the boat individually and as privately as possible asking them how they are feeling and if there is anything they would like to talk about, it doesn't have to be related to God or the current situation, but anything at all. He offers his sympathy and understanding that these are difficult times in a way that we never even imagined before.
He also mutters something about a sea venture.

Kris:
I look around without hector looking and say that with my medical knowledge hector looks more feverish and not well. Did any one notice anything unusual with him? Cuts blood? If you all don't mind I think Bob should ask him if I can take a look as I think based on my 12 years assessing sick patients I can see if anything is wrong. It would also be fair to say that if he doesn't want to he could be hidding something. I think we all need to trust each other and if we don't we won't survive. If you need proof I can say that my friends and I won't object to being evaluated by anyone here. With a positive response from the rest I ask bob to talk with Hector and explain what the group has decided.
What say the rest of you?

September 25th, 12pm.

Hector does not appear to have any obvious injuries.
His work overalls are in tact, no large splatters of blood, etc.

Kris:
Obvious? Or he is detoxing!

Bob:
1) Was I successfully able to bring the first aid kit from the original lifeboat?

(2) Food Stores:
We're pretty good on food: Assuming this originally had 3 days food for 370 people, our current food stores should be as follows:
(a) Initial stores: 3x370 = 1,110 days for 1 person
(b) September 17th-18th: 10 people, = 1,090
(c) We arrive, September 19th-25th: 22 people, = 936 units remaining.
(d) As of a week in, we have 936/22 = 42.5 days of food remaining for 22 people.
Still, we may be out here a while. I suggest we consider rationing for the adults in good health (not Monica or Ethel). We could be out here for quite a while.

(3) Where are we now according to GPS?
According to the crv55 specs, the lifeboat has two 70-horsepower diesel engines and a speed of 6 knots per hour, which is 6.9 miles per hour. I also learned that they also contain oars in racks along the ceiling, so we can row.

How far out from shore are we? How many knots per gallon will the lifeboat get us? Assuming we can do 6 knots per gallon, that's 60 ish miles on our reserves...

September 30th, 12:30pm.

Yes, you guys got the cadillac of lifeboats. The irony is the plan I gave you was for a Carnival cruise ship.
Sure, you can have the extremely basic first aid kit. You now have 2 as the one on this ship is intact.
You've drifted closer to shore, 200-300 miles away. If your drifting holds steady, you think you'll be able to kick the engines on in a couple days and just make it to shore on fumes.

Bob:
Some thoughts as we pass the time:

(1) I think it's time to share information with the survivors of the ship. We should share with them our entire story and ALL information we've seen on the infected: how fast they move, how smart they are, have we seen them able to use tools? Open doors? Talk? How head damage seems to be the only way to kill them. How getting bitten, scratched seems to infect you. How it seems to be bloodborne. How the infection rate seems dependent on how hurt you already are. We saw badly injured people change in one minute. A healthy scratched soldier took 30 hours. Anything the other survivors can share from their experiences that can contribute to our general pool of strengths and weaknesses.

(2) We should make better use of the supplies on this vessel.

(a) There are oars in racks in the ceiling. Each one is 10 to 12 feet long. Let's use the axes and hatchet and knife to whittle down one end into extremely sharp points. This gives us fantastic reach - and may be very useful when on the mainland. Imagine what Jeff could do with this.
Let's ensure all adults have at least an oat-spear if they want one.
(b) Let's see if we can make some of this equipment mobile:
(i) There are four solar powered lanterns bolted to the boat. Josh said these could be easily unbolted. Batteries will be hard to find soon. Let's take these off the outside and put them to better use.
(ii) Can we safely disconnect the desalination kit (the plumber may have expertise on this!). May be extremely helpful when water gets scarce.
(iii) Can we safely disconnect the transceiver GPS, and Compass? Some of us have electronics skills. These could be useful on the mainland as well.
(iv) Lt. Dan may be in that wheelchair for a while. Can anything be done to outfit it for long term use? To make it more rugged?

(3) I don't think Hector is infected. These terrorist/soldiers were in peak physical condition, and went down in thirty hours. Could be something else. Maybe Kris is right. Looks like he's detoxing. I will say hello to him and confirm that he speaks Spanish (in spanish) and share with him a summary of what we know and strengths and weaknesses of the infected AO he's up to speed. And ask him how he's feeling. Will offer him some aspirin.

(4) What radio chatter have we picked up? News from the mainland? Other ships? Air traffic?

September 25th, 6:00pm.

1. They are able to confirm pretty much everything you've told them. They pointed out a specific example of their stupidity since they cannot open doors.

2. The oars are very think and will be difficult to handle. Just too big for your hands to hold well. You're welcome to spend time on it.
The lanterns come off easy enough.
The desalination kit is portable
The compass is mechanical, so yes, you can remove it,.
The GPS device runs off the ships batteries, so you can rip it out, but it won't work.
Speaking of electronic devices, after a week on the boat, all cell phone batteries are dead.
His wheelchair was designed for an active lifestyle, so it's pretty good already. You are able to outfit it a little to help carry some of the equipment like the med kit, etc.

3. Hector's condition is up to Jeff

4. You had been hearing lots of broken chatter previously, but now, all you hear is dead air. Like there is no one out there to talk with. It's downright eerie.

After a three week hiatus, we got back to the game. We had done some email gaming while on the lifeboat. In the end, the 6 players, their 3 family member NPCs, and 8 other NPCs remained on their boat. We were missing Kris tonight, so his character was handled by Bob.

After 2 weeks at sea, the survivors finally spotted land. Using the remaining fuel, they landed at the Calm Seas Marina. Looking around, they saw a couple smaller boats, a mostly empty parking lot, and a small, 2 story building. They gave Lt. Dan the binoculars and one of the two security radios they had obtained on the ship and set him as lookout. The other NPCs remained in the lifeboat. Mike took a few minutes to investigate the two boats while Bob scanned the radio stations and the other 4 guys headed for the building.

Mike found very little of value, taking some rope and a couple of mop handles, hoping to fashion spears out of them. Bob managed to hear some of the Emergency Broadcasting System directing North Carolina residents to Jacksonville. The rest of the gang hit the building. After taking a quick lap to make sure there were no suprises out back, they headed in, but only for a couple minutes. Looking around, they noted a stairway up, and a door to the left. Otherwise, the room was a total disaster. It had been completely ransacked. Jeff got on the radio and reported back to the lifeboat.

Waiting for the others to join them, they decided it best to open the door on the left first. Ever so cautiously, Jeff opened the door an inch wide. He placed his foot as a stop and braced it with his shoulder. Looking through the crack, the room looked like another ransacked room. Heading in, it was obvious this room had also been cleaned out. The only thing of note was a door that they assumed led to the basement. Not yet wanting to open the door, they pushed some shelving against it and headed upstairs. Once again, more of the same...a completely ransacked and looted office.

Returning to the basement, Jeff and Bob cracked the door. Any hope they had that the infection had not spread to the mainland was doused as the stench of rotting flesh assaulted their senses. Jeff managed to keep his lunch in through an amazing roll. Bob on the other hand immediately vomited....then they heard it, the moan(I love making the moan sound, it really creeps my players out). Quickly closing the door, they did catch a glimpse of the first zombie and noted the gunshot wound to the chest that likely killed the person. They also believed they saw additional creatures moving in the dark.

At this point, Mike and Bob went outside to see if there were basement windows. Luck was with them and after breaking a little glass with his mop handle, turned makeshift spear, Mike speared one through the head. Unfortunately, the way the body fell, it prevented any other zombies from approaching the window. The second window they approached had boxes stacked against it inside, so they could not see anything inside. A third window yielded similar results to the first, with a second dead zombie left inside.

Returning to the stock room, after MUCH discussion, Joel pushed the door to the basement open, and Jeff and Bob pushed some large shelves down the stairs, smashing into the two zombies that were still on the stairs. They were plowed over and then pinned to the ground, allowing Jeff and Mike to make quick work of them with axes. Like the rest of the building, the basement was empty of anything useful.

After a few minutes of debate about what to do next, they heard a single gunshot off in the distance. Bob and Mike were not interested in investigating it. Based on their previous track record of meeting people, they were very hesitant to look into it. Instead the group went to the parking lot to see about commendeering a few vehicles. A quick inspection of each showed the gas tanks had been emptied and anything of value removed. Snagging a few tire irons, some maps, some fishing gear, and other odds and ends, they moved on. They found a newspaper bin and rifled through it. They discovered a newspaper from two weeks ago with no other new publications. The paper was hastily made - a one-sheet. And on the front page was the headline: PANDEMIC STRIKES ENTIRE WORLD. Giving details of a never before seen sicknes and stating the government was setting up evacuation centers. The newspaper listed the closest evacuation center in the local area. The players compared this against their maps. Another gunshot range out.

The group then decided they did not want to spend another night in the lifeboat, so they relocated all of their food stuffs(plenty of the lifeboat supplies were left), to the small building. And they heard another shot. Mike was able to identify the sound as a hunting rifle.

Still unwilling to go into the woods to investigate, the group split, with Jeff, Kris, and Joel following the treeline south west and Mike, Bob, and Adam heading northeast. The southern group followed a small trail into the woods, and encountered a single zombie. They easily dispatched it and continued to explore. The northern group came to a small road that led them deeper into the forest and closer to the gunshots. Cautiously following the road, they saw a farmhouse in the distance, with a dozen dead zombies in the yard and a few more milling around. Bang, another one dropped. Ever so cautious, they decided not to investigate further and returned to the marina for an uneventful night.

After more discussion about what to do, including ideas of rowing one of the 20 foot boats to Jacksonville, I decided it was time to move things along and brought Hell Furrie, Spiderbait, and the rest of the Ghost Riders to bear on the survivors.

The roar of motorcycles is a hard thing to not hear, so the survivors were not surprised when 24 bikes, with 36 bikers, arrived at the Marina. A few hasty suggestions were made, such as fleeing, etc, unfortunately, the survivors ran out of time and tried to set themselves up in the 2 story building. Bob ran downstairs into the basement and scrabled to find a place to hide weapons. His eyes were drawn to the corpses that remained there. Using the hole in the chest of the first, he deposited a Glock in the first zombie's chest. He hid another Glock in the stomach of the second. Jeff hid a Glock in Lt Dan's wheelchair.

Adam stepped forward as the spokesman for the group. Hell, realizing he finally found some bait for his raid on Newport, ordered the players to throw down their weapons and come out of the building. They replied with, "No." Hell was not satisfied with that response and told his guys to "Burn it down." That got a different response from the survivors and they all came out of the building, except Mike and Joel. Both were up on the second story and thought it suicide to give up their weapons. After a few back and forth comments, Hell had a couple of his guys toss grenades at the building. Having learned of the food stores that were inside, he decided burning was less of an option. Fortunately for Mike and Joel, the first grenade just missed their window, instead landing in the flowerbox just outside. After diving to the side, they both managed to avoid taking damage. The other grenade was tossed in the front door.

At this point, Joel came out but Mike continued to resist. Ultimately, he slung the M16 he had over his shoulder and come out the front door, a glock in each hand, ready to fire. Cards were dealt and Spiderbait got to go first. She double tapped, hitting and shaking Mike. Adam screamed at Mike to stand down as 6 more M16s were aimed at him. Filled with frustration, Mike refused to lower his pistols, but did continue to talk.

Hell then briefed them on his plan. He would take the six of them to Newport, NC. A small town about 25 miles away. They would not be armed, but instead, sent into the city to act as a distraction. So his force could hit a local mall. If they returned, they would be free to reunite with the rest of the NPCs, who would stay at the marina under Spiderbait's watchful eye. Mike still resisted giving up his weapons. In the end, Hell decided to respect Mike's nerve and told him, when they got to Newport, Mike would be given a fully loaded glock and one additional clip. Mike agreed and the survivors were loaded into a box truck. Bob requested they be permitted to keep their ship's flares, which may help with the distraction. Hell agreed. Hell was not so agreeable when the party suggested he give them a motorcycle, however.

After a 30 minute ride, the door was lifted and they found themselves a mile or so outside the city. On the ride over, Adam asked for a cigarette and a lighter, which one of the bikers provided. Adam's wife complained, saying that Adam didn't smoke. Adam later explained that he didn't get a cigarette - he just got the group a fuse. It was roughly 10AM when they asked Hell were they were to rendezvous with the Ghost Riders after making the distraction. Hell told them, right here, but we aren't staying later than 2:30.

The session ended with Hell reaching into his pocket and handing the characters a restaurant-style place mat map of the city and telling them to get going.

This was a tough session in a couple regards. First and for most, I need to say, I was really not happy with how things with the Ghost Riders went down. I knew what Mike's reaction would be and tried really hard NOT to have Hell kill him out right as would have been the likely outcome if I'd have played it as I should have. Additionally, the players floundered at the start. With no clear goal to attain, they were distracted and took over 2.5 hours to explore the 2 story marina building and kill 4 zombies. I think they actually spent close to 20 minutes talking about how to position shelves to best block the basement door. I'm certainly part to blame here, which is why I finally moved things along by bringing the Ghost Riders in.

We tentatively play again in two weeks. It's election day, so that might shift a bit.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 12:18 pm Post subject: War of the Dead: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (10/22)

Good:
It had been the worst imaginable cruise ship experience ever. The twenty two people huddled aboard the lifeboat drifted for days that turned into weeks. Not even sleep offered a temporary escape. When they slept at night, it was not unusual to hear one or two people wake up screaming, and then settle back down.

Spirits were subdued. With no radio, no television, people were left to their thoughts. They remembered the gore and violence. They remembered experiences that nearly left them for dead. They remembered a horrific nightmarish race to lifeboats. The brief feelings of safety overshadowed by the fanaticism of Mrs. Hartten.

Then came the weeks of inactivity aboard the lifeboats: Cramped quarters, no bathing facilities, the same limited food over and over again, and the unending ocean on all sides. They drifted, a plaything of the oceans, waiting for their salvation, for a bird to fly overhead. For signs of land.

Then, after two weeks that felt more like two years, land was sighted on the horizon. The GPS suggested it was close enough that their limited fuel reserves could get them there. They started up the diesel engines and headed for land.

As they pulled into the Marina harbor, it was late morning. The sun was shining brightly. Not a cloud in the sky. It was a perfect beautiful day. They could see birds flitting from tree to tree. They had survived. They made it to land. They had escaped certain death

The nightmare was finally over.

Bad:
Jeff nodded to Bob and pulled open the door to the basement. Bob peered in cautiously. Then suddenly, it overwhelmed him as if someone had hit him in the stomach with a sledgehammer. An overpowering stench filled his mouth, his ears, and his lungs. He tasted putrid rotting flesh. He tasted death. It was too much. His body responded in the only way it knew how: Bob began to violently vomit, spasming and incapacitated.

And as he leaned over, unable to move, that’s when he saw it, lurching its way up the stairs. A corpse. Walking. It let out an inhuman moan and Bob could see more shapes in the darkness. They were coming up.

Bob tried to speak, to warn the others, but his mouth filled with bile and he fell to the floor, puking.

There were coming. And they were already on the mainland.

Ugly:
They could hear the motorcycles minutes before they drove into view. It sounded like an army of massive bees off in the distance. There wasn’t enough time to do much of anything. Their hearts sank when they saw the biker gang ride towards them. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” someone muttered. “This might not be so bad,” said Adam. “Could be friendly.”

“When have you ever seen friendly bikers?” asked Bob.
They surrounded the club. Thirty-six of them in total. Their fleet of Harley Davidsons sparkled in the sunlight. And it was impossible not to see that they were heavily armed: Each one had at least one M16. They looked brutal.

After threatening to burn down the building, everyone left except for Mike and Joel, who was perched on the second floor window, keeping his M16 trained at all times on the leader. After throwing grenades into the building, Joel surrendered his weapon and stepped out.

“You’ll get no further warnings. Either come out the front door without your weapon or we kill you,” shouted Hell in a gravelly baritone voice.

“I’m coming down now,” answered Mike.

After a few moments, Mike emerged through the front door. He hadn’t dropped his weapons. He had a Glock in each hand pointed directly at Hell’s head.

All 36 bikers opened fire.

Player Quotes:

(1) Jcayer: So after two weeks at sea -
Adam: You guys finally begin to realize that I’m growing a beard.
Jeff: A neck-beard!

(2) Mike: I’m going to check out the boats. See what’s on there.
Adam: You can’t search that boat. That’s someone’s boat! That belongs to someone.
Mike: *rolling eyes* I shoot Adam again!

(3) Mike: Let’s all be quiet, engage in silent operations.
Adam: This is going to be hard for some of us (looks at Bob)
Bob: I train and take a d4 in sign language!
Jeff: I have no idea what he’s saying.

(4) Jeff: You know what’s weird? There’s no bathroom in this marina.
Jcayer: Maybe it’s in the basement. Or they do it off the pier.
Bob: Is that the poopdeck?
(Collective groan)

(5) Jcayer: You smash the glass to the basement with your mop. The creature shambles toward the basement window. It lets out an unearthly moan.
Adam: You’re awfully good at that.
Bob: Yeah. That’s creepy.
Jcayer’s wife: Try living with him!

(6) After several hours, you have patched together bits and pieces of the life jackets into an ad-hoc light armor. In many ways it resembles the coat that Ralphie’s brother had to wear in “A Christmas Story.” Bob’s armor is Michelin Man armor.
Bob: That doesn’t sound so bad.
Jcayer: Wait. I have a better name. It’s Pillsbury Dough Boy armor.
Bob: Oh. That’s not as cool.

(7) Jcayer: The zombies are now dead.
Jeff: I’m going to cut one’s ear off and put it in my mouth. Like Darrel from the Walking Dead.

(8) (After finding zombies in the basement and realizing that the infection has spread to the mainland and is not an isolated incident on the cruise ship.)
Jeff: So do you think it’s the coast guard, the cruise ship, AND the marina that was infected? Man, what are the chances?

(9) Adam: We have to meet back up with our friend Josh back home. He managed to get a text out before all this started that he had collected our loved ones and was heading west.
Bob: I agree.
Jeff: I think we have to let Josh go.

(10)Bob: Let’s check out the cars from the parking lot and see if any are working. We could pile into those and get away to an evacuation point.
Joel: We could make a car barrier!

(11)Josh: You find a newspaper bin.
Joel: Anyone have 35 cents for a newspaper?
Bob: *smashes glass* Here you go Joel. Take two.
Josh: You see first page news about a national crisis – a pandemic. The government has set up evacuation points and relocation camps.
Adam: My wife immediately checks the obituaries.
Bob: Why?
Adam: That’s what she does.
Jeff: Hey - How’s Marmaduke doing? It’s been two weeks since I read about his adventures.

(12)Jeff: Let’s find a phone book and check them for maps. See where these evacuation points are located.
Adam: Who the heck has a phone book these days?
Joel: I’m good with geography. We’re in North Carolina. What did you need to know?
Jeff: How far away is Jacksonville?
Joel: Hm. (thinking)
Adam: Okay, let’s find a phone book.

(13)Bob: I don’t think it’s a good idea to go to that house. So far, every time we meet outsiders, it’s bad. Forthington was a douche… The terrorists were a douche.
Jeff: Kirkman wasn’t a douche.
Bob: Kirkman was initially a douche. Then Mrs. Hartten was…. (pauses) a very religious woman whose beliefs I respect.
Adam: .. she was a douche!

(14)Bob: So maybe we form a triangle formation as we go down this road. Mike takes point, and Adam and I flank slightly from behind.
Mike: Yep. Adam forms two of the three sides.
Adam: I shoot Mike.

(15)The players discuss how to barricade the Marina clubhouse for the night as they prepare to camp out there.
Jeff: Hey guys. I have an idea. This is easy. Let’s just flip the sign on the window and set it to closed. No one will bother us then!

(16)Jcayer: As your party has the GPS and maps, I will zoom out the Google maps on our game grid display so you can see where you are. Mike, I know you are connected remotely, so I hope you don’t abuse the map and just look at the map up to the woods and no farther.
Mike: I haven’t abused anything tonight.
Bob: Except for four zombies…
Joel: …and Adam.

(17)After only a minute or two of loud rumbling in the distance, 24 brand-new Harleys show up. Riding them are 36 rough and tumble biker types. 24 men and 12 women riding behind them. They all seemed armed with M16s.
Adam: Do any of them have a T-shirt that reads, “If you can read this, the wench, fell off.”

(18)JCayer: Here’s a picture of the leader of the bikers . (He pulls up a picture of Ron Pearlman from the Anarchy biker show)
Adam: Oh, I loved you in ‘Beauty and the Beast!’

(19)(Adam steps outside to talk with the leader of the biker gang, a fearsome looking dude)
Adam: Tell me what’s going on here.
Biker: I’m in charge here.
Adam: What about the dead people rising?
Biker: Yes. That’s how it is now. You’re not just stupid.
Mike (from the second floor window): Yes he is!

(20)(The party draws weapons on the bikers. The bikers draw weapons on the party. The party number 8 or nine people with guns. The bikers number 36. They are hopelessly outnumbered.) Jeff: You can take us out, but we’ll take eight or nine of you with us. And we’ll target you or your women first.
Biker: Or you’ll be dead.
Jeff: …and then we’ll all rise up again as infected and kill the rest of the living. It doesn’t have to come to that.

(21)Bob: Got any whiskey – we could make some Molotovs?
Hell: We don’t waste any of our drink with crap like that.
Jeff: So then we’ll take your Tequila. You don’t need that then!
Adam (to Bob, whispered): They’re not real bikers!

(22)Hell: You see that Mall over there? That’s where we need to be.
Adam: How much time do we have?
Jeff: You’re not going to be trying on clothes in there and stuff?

First off, a big thank you to Mike, our resident gun expert, who brought both a real glock and M-16 last night for all of us to check out. It was nice for the players to see what they're handling.

Stepping out of the box truck that Hell transported them in, the gang found themselves on the outskirts of a small city. Hell reminded the party they were to go into town and create a diversion so he and his men, the Ghost Riders, could get easier access to the mall. When Mike asked about the pistol that Hell had told him he could have, Hell just laughed and said, "Do you really think I'd let you have a gun with ammo in it?" Mike wasn't happy, but headed into town with the rest of the group. Hell did concede to letting them keep the axes they had taken from the ship.

It was mid-morning and sunny. Visability was good. After passing through a few empty blocks, a zombie burst out of a second story window, attempting to attack Jeff. Reacting quickly, almost by instinct, Jeff swung around and took the creature full in the skull, splitting the head, and splashing brain all over. This brief encounter reminded the party not to take a quiet street for granted and continued on even more cautiously. As a result, Mike and Kris took the lead with Adam and Bob in the middle, and Jeff and Joel bringing up the rear. They each watched their respective zones and stayed away from doorways and windows so as not to be taken by surprise. Everyone was on edge as a zombie could appear from anywhere. Bob continued to take some good-natured ribbing as during the two weeks on the lifeboat, he had passed the time with several craft projects. One of which was to take the pile of 360 extra life jackets and tie them together into a protective suit. The getup was clumsily-made, and life jackets were tied and cut to cover his arms, torso and legs. He looked bright orange and very ridiculous, and the life jacket armor slowed him considerably and created a trip hazard. But he doggedly decided to keep it on, despite the crude jokes made by the Ghost Riders. Some members of his group likened him to Ralphie's brother in his snowsuit in "A Christmas Story." Others started calling it the Pillsbury dough boy armor. Nevertheless, it did provide a small level of protection.

Peeking around a corner, Mike spotted a female zombie walking down the road. His experience as an EMT spotted something very odd about her. Her stomach had been ripped open, from the INSIDE! Hoping to avoid an early confrontation, the gang decided to hold for a few minutes, hoping she would wander away. Keeping an eye on her, and their surroundings, seconds ticked by, feeling like hours. Their hearts beating so fast, they thought for sure zombies from three blocks over would be coming toward them. The group opted to play the New Recruit card at this point, hoping for something to help them.

The zombie continued to wander around the street, slowly making her way toward the group. Then Mike saw a young boy, probably 10 years old, limp into the street at the far end. Swearing under his breath, he and Kris dashed around the corner out at the female zombie. The cards were with them and Mike got there first, intending to knock the creature to the ground so Kris would have an easier time with the head shot. Mike succeeded, but his success was short lived as the little boy turned to face him and Mike saw half his face was missing, the child was not a living survivor, but a zombie. Then, it slowly opened its mouth and the child zombie started to moan. A sound so vile that the players still shudder when I do it. Just as the moan began to reach its maximum pitch, a gunshot silenced it. An older gentleman stepped out from another street and said, "Quick, follow me." Kris drew a deuce so was frozen to the spot. The zombie drew a 3 and was going to act first. Fortunately, Kris's brother Bob drew slightly higher in the initiative. He stepped forward. Not skipping a beat, Bob finished off the female zombie and the group followed the old man.

He led them around a few blocks before dragging them into The Handy Hardware Store(I had originally called this Hank's Hardware, but the players kept thinking Henry and Hank were the same guy, they aren't, not that it matters). The old man introduced himself as Henry Stevenson. A life long resident of the area, he and his wife live out near the Marina. After a quick chat, while the players scavenged what they could, they determined that Henry lived in the house near the Marina. Furthermore, the players had already run into Henry, at least his handy work, when approaching the house with dead zombies all over the front yard. Bob took the opportunity to remove his lifevest armor, seeing that speed was more important than protection. The gang managed to find some useful items. The place was picked over pretty good, however. Most of the common items were missing - radios, batteries were all out of stock. They found the following:

2 Long handled screwdrivers
1 Screwdriver
8 Swiss army knives of various styles
2 Crowbars
2 Brooms (Mike snapped off the heads and turned them into spears)
1 Hand saw (Joel grabbed this)
Several #10 pan head screws
2 rolls of duct tape
2 pairs of safety goggles with straps (Bob looked for these, thinking it may be helpful for those with glasses)
2 cans of spray paint
Several bags to carry these items in [RDJ]

All mundane things left behind during the initial rush. The group noticed the hardware store had a security alarm system. Bob did take a look at it and thanks to an insane roll, managed to get the alarm working on the backup batteries. He had no idea how long the alarm would last, but he was confident it would work. The alarm system was armed so that breaking the glass should trigger it.

Gathering up the rest of what they could scavenge, the group planned to follow Henry back to his car, find some additional mode of transportation and then high tail it out of town. There was still some debate about their destination, but that was put on hold as Mike, Kris, and Adam threw large bolts at the glass window from across the street. Adam's throw was pathetic, Kris' hit the window frame, and Mike's found and shattered the glass. (Mike had trained two slots into throwing for his Advancement, and the choice was paying off.) The alarm klaxon began blaring and zombies immediately started wandering over to the store. I rolled a d4 to determine how long the alarm would sound. It came up 1, so, with the gang one block away, the alarm stopped. Sometime around here, one of the players played the Hot Wheels card, which would give them access to a vehicle. I held off providing that for a few moments as I had something planned that would work well with that.

Dodging groups of the dead, the gang found themselves constantly changing direction, retracing their steps, and generally making little progress toward Henry's car. During this time, they saw an Apache helicopter strafe through the area, heading east to west. Bob wanted to shoot a flare off to let them know there were friendlies on the ground. Mike was adamant that this would put the group in more danger, and Bob relented. Doubling back and taking another route, they heard a woman screaming. Racing to her aid, they found a woman swinging a shotgun as a club while trying to defend herself against two zombies. A third lay on the ground, face fill of shotgun blast. Moving in, they could see she had already been bitten. A moment later, she was on the ground and the gang made quick work of the 2 zombies that had jumped on top of her and were treating her like a breakast buffet. Kris made sure that she would not come back, as one of the dead, either. Mike grabbed the empty shotgun, hoping to find more ammo in the house.

Heading inside, they saw a CB radio in the kitchen and could hear the sounds of a fire fight coming through it. Performing a quick search of the house, the survivors were finally able to re-arm themselves. Three glocks, 3 shotgun shells, and three rifles were found. Each glock had a full cartridge(15 rounds), and a spare, empty one. Each rifle had 10 rounds. Further exploration of the house found an early 80's Camaro in the garage, 3 crates of food, and 2, 5 gallon gas cans. Listening further to the radio, someone on the far end was calling for Maria, saying they needed backup as the bikers were getting the upper hand. The group quickly figured out that whoever lived here was engaged in a shoot out with the Ghost Riders over access to the mall. The group decided they had three options: They could join the firefight and assist the gang members against the Ghost Riders. They could head directly to the Marina and try to save their loved ones who were guarded by nine Ghost Riders plus Spiderbait. Or they could go scout out the six ghost riders who were guarding the motorcyles and the truck they came in on. The group agreed there was no way Hell would keep his end of the bargain. There was some quick discussion about potentially backing up the residents of the house against the Ghost Riders, but in the end, the call to rescue their loved ones proved too compelling.

Obviously, the Camaro was too small to fit the entire group. A plan was devised where Joel would drive the Camaro, with Henry in the passenger seat and Mike hanging out the top. Joel had previously owned a Camaro before the outbreak of infected, and the group agreed he would be the most experienced driver. The three would race to Henry's car and then come back for the rest. The food was placed in the backseat and the gas jugs in the trunk. The trunk had to be tied down to keep it closed, but would be fine for a short trip. Turning the key, Highway to Hell came blaring out of the CD player, and the engine purred like a cat, through a bullhorn. Flying out of the garage, Joel hoped they'd be able to make it the 5 or so blocks to Henry's car with ease. Unfortunately, the sound of the engine pulled zombies from all the surrounding blocks and the car was quickly surrounded. Joel put the pedal to the metal, hoping to ram their way out of the situation, unfortunately, the car was not up to the task and after running over several bodies, bottomed out so the wheels were spinning because they couldn't reach the ground with the middle of the car teetering on several bodies. Realizing they had to act quickly, Joel, Henry, and Mike jumped out of the car and made a run for Henry's station wagon. In the future, the group vowed to make it very clear when driving vehicles that they were not simply driving through herds of infected, but attempting to drive around them if possible.

Hopping in the car, Henry took them on a longer route, heading back to the house. Halfway there, Mike spotted a gorgeous Hummer, H3, on the side of the road. Looking around, they had about 30 seconds before any zombies would be on them, so Mike hopped out. The drivers door was locked, but he could see the keys inside. Smashing the window, he jumped in. At the same time, Joel walked to the passenger side and opened the passenger door, which was unlocked. Oops! Mike followed Henry back toward the house. For the record, I gave them the camaro to see how they would handle a vehicle that couldn't carry them all. The H3 was provided as a result of the Hot Wheels card.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Bob, Kris, Jeff, and Adam searched the house a bit more and Jeff and Kris determined that the floor plan seemed to be hiding a room. They bashed through a wall with their axes and found a secret stash. One more gas container, another food crate, and 2 kevlar vests! Bob and Kris were given the vests as they fit them the best. Sadly there was no interest by the rest of the group in Bob's Lifejacket, Pillsbury Dough Boy armor. Further info came across the CB, constantly crying out for reinforcements. Bob was sorely tempted to respond, but in the end, did not. The group realized that by taking these weapons and supplies, they will likely have ruined any chance of allying with the other gang. Their resolve to free their loved ones and flee strengthened.

Moments later, Mike and Henry pulled up in their vehicles. Jeff and Kris hopped in with Mike while the rest went with Henry. Mike wanted the food and gas they had abandoned in the Camaro and Jeff and Kris were ready to assist. The street only had a dozen or so zombies in it and only a few were by the Camaro. Slowly Mike advanced the Hummer, hoping to not attract too much attention. He misjudged the distance between the Hummer and Camaro, so when Jeff opened the door, there was a gap between the door and camaro large enough for a zombie to get through. Mike was immediately attacked through the broken window. Fortunately, he was saved when a cat distracted the creature attacking him(Fellow Life Form Card). Jeff hopped out, grabbed a crate of food and tossed it to Kris. The first turn was over. As the zombies closed in, Henry pulled up at the far end of the street and started beeping his horn, drawing off many of the zombies. Jeff then swung his axe, cutting the string that held the trunk closed, grabbed the two gas cans, while Kris grabbed another crate of food. Seeing he was running out of time, Mike stepped on it and the group escaped, following Henry out of town.

Regrouping just outside of town, they decided to scout the bikers who Hell had left behind to guard the bikes. The group suspected that there were originaly six bikers posted to guard the bikes and the truck. Crawling through high grass, they were able to spy that the box truck was gone, as were 2 of the bikers. That left 4 bikers to deal with. The group decided that with 4 rifles, their best chance was to setup fairly far out, take their aim, and open fire. Henry, Mike, Adam, and Bob took aim. They had the drop, but at their range, that bonus was negated by distance. Squeezing off their shots, Mike and Bob dropped 2 of the bikers. The other 2 were able to take quick cover behind their bikes. The group didn't take into account that the bikers also had rifles - they had assumed the bikers only had pistols and attempted to maximize their range. They learned to take this into account for future fights. The following round, the bikers acted early and decided to get on their bikes and report back to Hell. Mike opened fire, and with a double explosion dropped the third biker. The players had trouble hitting this time, as in the second round they no longer had the +4 from the drop, nor did they have the +2 from aiming. They were firing with a -4 due to the long range, and they knew if they missed this, the bikers would be out of range by round three and on their way for reinforcements. To compensate for this, the players each spent a benny to use the Heroic Inspiration function. They each took the Marksman edge for one round, which gave them a +2 to hit with shooting a target. This reduced their penalty from -4 to -2. Bob started with three bennies. He spent one for the edge. He missed the first time. He spent another to re-roll his shooting attempt. He missed again. Desparate, he used his last benny to roll one final time. He hit - just barely with no raise. When he rolled damage, he rolled poorly and the damage was less than the biker's toughness. Three bennies were wasted with nothing to gain. Adam ended up with the last shot, and managed a hit. In typical Adam fashion, his damage roll was a 4 which was also less than the biker's toughness. Knowing this was the group's only chance to kill this biker, he played the Inventory Reduction card, resulting in a round that destroyed the rifle he was using, but inflicted maximum damage on the biker, killing him.

Ultimately, the gang picked up another 4 glocks, one from each biker, and 4 M-16s. Each weapon only had one full clip as the rest of the ammo had gone to backup Hell. A couple long knives, and leather jackets for Mike and Adam filled out the rest of the haul. Mike dumped some gas into the Hummer and Henry's wagon, cut the gas lines of the bikes, cut the spark plug wires, slashed the tires and refilled the gas containers from the tanks on the bikes.

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2012 4:45 pm Post subject: War of the Dead: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (11/05)

Good:
The house was an oasis the desert. A two-story brick colonial equipped with metal storm shutters and two entrances- it may have simply been considered, “sturdy” before the outbreak. Now any survivor would have called it “asylum.” Although there was no backup generator, it did reveal hidden treasures within: cold, clear running water, presumably sourced from an underground spring, a closet full of pistols, and a battery powered CB radio that informed them of the locations of potential enemies.

The four of them poured through the structure, looking for anything else that may help them. After thirty minutes, they returned to the kitchen, shaking their heads. Two had given up. There was nothing here. But something felt wrong to Jeff and Kris. Something wasn’t quite right. The two of them retraced their steps through the place. That’s when it hit them: The wall between the kitchen and the living room was three feet thick and made of wood panelling. No other wall in the house was that thick.
They took their axes to the wall and made short work of it. Within three swings, an open space was revealed. Their diligence had paid off. Within a secret cache they found two Kevlar vests…

Bad:
Mike was on point, leading the group through the city streets. He had his pistol drawn and was checking every window, every corner, looking for flashes of movement. And so it was that he was first to round the corner. In the distance, about a block down, he an infected shambling in the opposite direction. And emerging from a house to the right he saw a ten year old boy.

“Oh crap,” he muttered. Mike glanced back at Adam, who had proven himself to have a soft spot for children, risking himself and the group to help them. He shook his head. “Stay back,” he said to the rest of the group. “It’s not safe.”
Mike looked at the kid. He looked thin. He was limping slightly. And he had no idea he was about to walk into the sightline of an infected. He made a decision. “Kris, Jeff –come with me. You guys stay back and guard our position.”

Kris and Jeff flanked Mike as they ran toward the infected woman. They had to get there first before she (it?) saw the injured boy and attacked him. Too many people had already died. He couldn’t have this on his conscience.

As they closed on the infected, the boy turned his head. Mike saw half his face was missing. Crusts of dried blood left rusty streaks in his hair. He noticed maggots squirming around its right eye. It was not a living survivor, but infected. It was too late. The boy made eye contact with Mike. It cocked its head slightly and paused. Then it opened its mouth and began to moan…

“Oh crap,” Mike muttered.

Ugly:
The car was a work of art. As simple as that. A 1982 Camaro with just 42,212 miles on the odometer. It was in prime condition. The body was in perfect shape: an unblemished paint job, shiny chrome that caught the light. Rich leather seats. This thing was pure muscle tensed and ready to flex. Joel knew something about Camaros. He had owned one for years. His was a later model, though, and not in nearly as good condition as this. He found the keys on a hook in the garage. He slipped into the driver’s seat and put his hand on the steering wheel. It felt good. He felt good. The first time he had felt good since the breakout began more than two weeks ago.

For a moment Joel forgot about the fate of his son back in Connecticut. He forgot about his parents or the infected creatures that seemed to rise from the dead. He put his hands on the wheel and was transported to better times. When a car like this would make you King of the world. And ten dollars would get you two movie tickets, two burgers and fries. He almost smiled for a moment before remembering Monica being placed in his arms, her father begging for death. The sound of the Glock firing as he took her below decks.

They had finished loading the vehicle. Henry was riding shotgun, Mike was holding onto the back for dear life. They would drive out, get past these things, and get to Henry’s station wagon. Then come back for the others.

Jeff opened the garage door. Joel started the engine and it purred into life. A kitten’s purr amplified through a loudspeaker. These things made a LOT of noise. The CD player on the radio began playing ‘Highway to Hell.’ Almost immediately, the infected began shambling toward the house. They seemed to come from everywhere. He gunned it.

“Run them down!” Mike shouted. “One or two can’t stop us!”

The Camaro picked up speed.

“It’s not one or two I’m worried about. It’s when they get three deep!” Joel responded.

The vehicle handled like a dream. Two tons of steel and chrome plowed through the infected. He pressed down harder on the gas. The engine revved. More of the creatures appeared. Soon, they were five deep. The vehicle bumped, went over a very large woman, and slowed to a halt. “Move it,” Mike shouted.

“It’s not moving!” answered Joel. He knew the problem all too well. These things were built for speed; to be low to the ground. There were too many bodies underneath the vehicle. The front wheels and the back wheels were no longer making contact with the street.

Hundreds of infected surrounded the Camaro and began beating at the door, the windshield. “Highway to Hell” played in the background…

Player Quotes:
(1) Mike: For the record, I am NOT going to shoot Adam with a gun tonight.
Adam: Hopefully.

(2) Joel: Let’s honk a horn and attract them here.
Adam: We don’t want to bring them here! That’s the opposite of what we want to do!

(3) Jeff: I will attempt to repel the zombie by sticking an axe in his face. More as a defensive effort than anything else.

(4) Jeff destroys a creature deftly, swinging and sinking the blade of the axe halfway into its skull.
Bob: That’s one down and 199 to go. Or maybe 299 to go.
Mike: …Or 399 to go.

(5) You see a female creature shambling forward with its stomach ripped out. Mike notices from his paramedic experience that it looks by the wound that it burst outwards –from the inside out.
Adam: Is it a female zombie?
Josh: Yes.
Adam: My god. She was pregnant and her unborn child climbed out of her stomach. This whole scenario is hopeless. How can humanity survive if we can’t even have children?
Bob: Josh, from now on I’m ALWAYS using protection.
Joel: This is the new poster for birth control.

(6) Jeff: I look into the window of the building.
Josh: It’s a department store. You see female mannequins. It looks like it was a Victoria’s Secret.
Kris: Oooh. Is there a sale on right now?
Bob: 100% off everything.

(7) Josh: Mike, you see a young ten year old boy limping down the street. Only you see him.
Mike: The last thing I want to do is let Adam see him!
Joel: I see what you’re doing now. It’s the old Leenia distraction trick!

(8) The child turns, and half his face is revealed. It’s rotted. The child isn’t alive. It’s infected. And it begins to moan loudly.
Adam: Oh, crap.
Bob: That kid hit puberty early. Listen to how deep that voice is. I mean, that’s like James Earl Jones’s son.

(9) Bob finds the Swiss army knife that’s too big to use, like eight inches thick, filled with every contraption known to man. But it won’t fit in his pocket. Everyone finds a different Swiss army knife.
Kris: Does mine have the toothpick? They’re always missing the toothpick.

(10) Adam: I throw the water against the glass… and I (rolling dice) .. uh, critically fumble.
Josh: Adam looks like a little girl. He critically fumbles.
Bob: The rest of the group is incapacitated with laughter.

(11) Josh: I need someone to make a streetwise check.
Joel: I’ll make a streetwise check. I’m trained in streetwise.
Adam: Where did you get that? From the swim team?
Joel: I’m a product of the inner city of Providence. The inner streets of suburban Huntington.

(12) You see a woman with a shotgun, surrounded by two creatures. The shotgun is empty.
Bob: How do we know the shotgun was empty?
Josh: Because there are two dead zombies next to her, and they have shotgun blasts in their heads. And she’s using this as a club.
Bob: Oh..

(13) Josh: The zombies rush her and begin devouring her. Like Adam and Josh at a buffet.

(14) Josh: Inside the house you discover a gun closet.
Group: Great!
Jeff: It’s a gun closet, not an ammunition closet.
Group: Awww..

(15) Joel: How is the radio running? What power source?
Josh: It’s just running.
Joel: So is it running on a fusion generator?
Josh: Okay, okay, it’s a battery.

(16) You load up the Camero and go. The CD player begins playing “Highway to Hell”.
Bob: Very cool.
Jeff: Unfortunately, you’ll need to reload the tank every two miles. It’s a gas guzzler.

(17) Adam (upon learning the distance from the house to the bikers): How could they have travelled seventy miles in forty five minutes?
Jeff: They drive really fast.

(18) Joel: I play the radio.
Josh: You find a CD of Highway to Hell.
Jeff: Seriously? I was gonna say a 1982 Camaro doesn’t have a CD player.
Adam: We just found an unexpected cache of guns and rifles, and you’re questioning the CD player?

(19) Joel: We’re not gonna get through all of them if they mass up. If they get three or four deep, the car won’t move.
Bob: I’ve been through Mrs. Beatty’s driver’s Ed class, and I can tell you based on Stacy Miller’s driving, a Buick Century can get through at least five deep.

(20) Josh: Eventually you hear metal driving on metal. The car can’t last that long.
Mike: That car is so low to the ground, it won’t go over the bodies.
Joel: I’m treating it like a rental.

(21) Joel: How useful is a car like this? I was going 50-60 miles an hour. How did they catch up with me? They all walk so slowly.
Josh: You just couldn’t drive through them all.
Bob: I’m sorry about losing your car, Joel.
Joel: Well, it wasn’t mine anyways.

(22) Josh: Searching the house you find a section that didn’t seem to fit with the layout. Further inspection shows a wall that should have additional space behind it. You use your axes to open up the space and find a secret room. Within you find a container of gas, two Kevlar vests, and a couple of containers of food.
Jeff: Bob takes both and stitches them together to turn it into a skirt.

(23) Josh: You pull up with the station wagon back to the house.
Adam: Hey guys. Uh.. What happened to the Camaro?

(24) Mikey: Do you want to risk getting back to the Camaro for supplies?
Joel: Sure. But I’ve used all my bennies today.

(25) Adam: Is it wise to go up against 12 of these things, three to one odds?
Mike: Was it wise to run into an enclosed space with 8 zombies to save a baby?
Adam: That was different. Risk versus reward!
Mike: I shoot Adam…again.

(26) Joel: How tall do they have to be if they can’t reach through the window?
Mike: The H3 has pretty small windows and it’s pretty high off the ground.
Joel: A Jeff-sized zombie could reach him.
Bob: But a vertically challenged circus zombie would have troubles.

(27) Mike: I will play the adventure card where an animal saves me.
Jeff: Be creative Mike.
Josh: The more creative you are, the better the chance I’ll agree to your suggestion.
Jeff: That means don’t read the exact text from the card.
Adam: A pod of porpoises shuffle in and distract the horde, because porpoises are known to protect lone travellers.

(28) Josh: Okay, this is the last battle of the night. Before you get to the Burrito.
Bob: The burrito?
Josh: The marina! Marina! I have a stuffy nose!
Bob: Oh sorry. I thought we could make a run for the border.

(29) Adam: Never mind. I don’t want to argue this.
Josh: But this is why I--
Adam: Never mind! I don’t want to argue. I agree with your ruling!
Josh: I’m being a wife right now!
Jeff: If you both keep it up, you’ll both be wives!

(30) Adam: How do we disable the motorcycles?
Mike: We cut the fuel lines.
Bob: And pull the spark plugs.
Josh: And you have big knives. Will you be slashing the tires? (wistfully) I’ve always wanted to slash some tires.

First off, a big thank you to Mike, our resident gun expert, who brought both a real glock and M-16 last night for all of us to check out.

Awesome! Bonus Benny for bringing game-appropriate props, right? ;D

jcayer wrote:

When Mike asked about the pistol that Hell had told him he could have, Hell just laughed and said, "Do you really think I'd let you have a gun with ammo in it?"

Ah yes. There isn't much incentive for Hell to have to keep his word to a bunch of people he's expecting to be zombie-chow soon.

jcayer wrote:

Others started calling it the Pillsbury dough boy armor. Nevertheless, it did provide a small level of protection.

Hey, you've gotta start somewhere, right? Thus are born the beginnings of innovation in Anti-Zombie-Wear for the apocalypse.

jcayer wrote:

The group opted to play the New Recruit card at this point, hoping for something to help them.

In my own campaign, I was rather surprised how often this card kept coming up -- and how often people would PLAY it (even if it meant splitting precious rations and other supplies another way). I ended up coming up with a whole roster of "randomly encountered fellow survivors" (and little ref cards for their stats) so I'd be prepared on the spot. (Some of them, incidentally, were comprised of NPCs that the heroes MIGHT have encountered normally otherwise in the campaign, but missed because they opted to avoid an encounter -- perhaps out of fear of not knowing what they were getting into at the time.)

jcayer wrote:

2 Long handled screwdrivers

Aha! Sharpened to make throwing knives!

jcayer wrote:

2 rolls of duct tape

HUZZAH! Worth their weight in gold in the apocalypse!

jcayer wrote:

(Mike had trained two slots into throwing for his Advancement, and the choice was paying off.)

Yes, I find that Throwing can be surprisingly useful at short ranges, when the PCs are in situations where they might have to rely on improvised weapons a lot.

Anyway, sounds like quite a gripping session! Thanks again for the updates! I'm having a lot of fun reading these. (And the "Good Bad and Ugly" update is a great companion piece!)_________________

It was a very good session. I enjoy sharing the write up, but man is it work. I really appreciate the efforts of Ferret, Jordan, DG, and others who do/did this. I spent between 2 and 2.5 hours writing it up, and I know you guys must do the same. But I also know how many ideas I've stolen and used to make my game that much better. So totally worth it.

I really need to work on giving out Bennies. Mike, I owe you a benny next session.

The Good, Bad, and Ugly is a lot of fun for us to read. While my write up helps us remember the story, the GBU really helps us remember the moments within it. Writing it up is just as thankless as me writing up the game. He even takes notes during the session. Thanks again Bob.

However, Bob did miss my favorite quote of the night:
The gang had just entered the hardware store and as they were looking around, I said, "Queue the A-Team theme music."

That's really a necessity. Once upon a time, I actually had a couple of players who would write down "quotables" when they would happen, and I'd work them into my write-ups.

Nowadays, however, the best I can say is, "And then Ash said this really cool thing, just like from Army from Darkness, and it was really funny and ... uh ... you had to be there." I can hardly ever remember the particulars, and when I'm GMing, I can hardly afford to halt things just so I can write every last thing down mid-game. So, I figure it's pretty lucky you have a player willing to do that. _________________

That's really a necessity. Once upon a time, I actually had a couple of players who would write down "quotables" when they would happen, and I'd work them into my write-ups.

Nowadays, however, the best I can say is, "And then Ash said this really cool thing, just like from Army from Darkness, and it was really funny and ... uh ... you had to be there." I can hardly ever remember the particulars, and when I'm GMing, I can hardly afford to halt things just so I can write every last thing down mid-game. So, I figure it's pretty lucky you have a player willing to do that.

Yeah, I really miss having players who write stuff down during the game. I do have a few that write things from the character's perspective and post them on our Obsidian Portal site.